A former U.S. EPA fugitive will serve five months of home detention for falsifying vehicle emissions test reports, the agency announced today.

Between November 2007 and May 2009, Nevada resident Joseph DeMatteo fraudulently reported on vehicle inspection reports that vehicles had passed their emissions tests. In fact, he was "clean scanning" vehicles, a practice in which the identification of a car that can't pass the test is entered into a computer system while another car is actually tested.

DeMatteo -- along with nine other Nevada-certified emissions testers -- was indicted on Jan. 6, 2010, by a federal grand jury. But he failed to surrender to law enforcement authorities and became a fugitive until he was arrested in Las Vegas on June 8. He pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act on Oct. 14.

Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, heralded the sentence as an example of her office's success. The office has been criticized in recent months by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility for a high turnover of agents and an unwelcoming work environment.

"Today's sentence demonstrates that individuals who knowingly violate our nation's environmental laws and then flee the court's jurisdiction will be caught and brought to justice," Giles said in a press release. "Abusing emissions testing responsibilities puts communities' air quality at risk. With information provided through the EPA fugitive's list, we were able to work with the public and other law enforcement agencies to capture and complete the sentencing of a defendant who attempted to circumvent the law."

In addition to the five months of home detention, DeMatteo will serve three years probation. He is the sixth of the 10 indicted emissions testers to be sentenced. The others are Eduardo Franco, Alexander Worster, Wadji Waked, Adolfo Contreras, David Nelson, William McCown, Gary Smith, Peter Escudero and Louis Demeo. According to the EPA release, Las Vegas is required to perform emissions testing because it violates ozone and carbon monoxide standards.