Technicians at seven smog check shops in Santa Clara County have been convicted as part of an undercover operation that discovered workers were illegally "clean piping" cars, passing them on clean air tests by using fake results.

The announcement came today as part of a joint effort by the state Department of Consumer Affairs' Bureau of Automotive Repair and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

A total of 12 technicians and seven shops were involved: All technicians were convicted on felony charges of falsifying a certificate, except for two who cooperated with the district attorney's office and were charged with misdemeanors. Many of the sentences are a combination of county jail of one month to four months, along with community service, according to DA spokeswoman Amy Cornell.

The shops had their smog check licenses temporarily revoked, and in some cases, they are still open because the owners didn't know what their technicians were doing, according to Russ Heimerich, a state consumer affairs spokesman.

Five of the shops are in San Jose, one was in Morgan Hill and one was in Santa Clara, according to the results of the investigation, which took "several months."

"It's not only fraudulent," Heimerich said. "But it's an air quality issue, too."

An owner at one of the shops, who asked that his name not be used, told the Mercury News that he is an absentee owner who had no idea what his technician was

doing.

"You have to rely on your technician to manage your business," he said. "Now, I have to clean up this big mess. It's had a profoundly negative impact on my life. I'm still open, but there's the possibility I could lose my business. This has been overwhelming."

Heimerich described how "clean piping" works: An owner of a 1990 Ford, for example, would take his pickup into a smog check shop, which may advertise a slogan such as, "We guarantee passing your smog test." He would pay an average of $200 for a test. Then, the technician would run a 2000 Honda through the test instead of the Ford. State investigators see the results of the tests before they issue clean car certificates.

Heimerich said authorities know the emissions from an old Ford aren't the same as a newer Honda. To seal up the case, Heimerich said, the state set in undercover agents from shops where the results seemed suspicious to get firsthand evidence of illegal smog check tests, the findings which are then forwarded to various district attorneys. Seven such shops were also recently charged in Los Angeles, he said.

California's emission laws identify polluting vehicles by analyzing the exhaust. The car needs to pass inspections for the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew a vehicle registration.

The smog check shops involved in the sting are: Tram Test Only Center Inc. at 288 E. Virginia St. in San Jose; TNT Smog at 16860 Joleen Way in Morgan Hill; Santa Clara Test Only at 3295 El Camino Real in Santa Clara; Spartan Test Only at 1608 Almaden Expressway in San Jose; 914 Test Only at 914 Commercial St. in San Jose; 210 Smog Test Only at 210 San Jose Ave. in San Jose; and Century Auto Service at 331 Keyes St. in San Jose.

Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-920-5002.