Mexican Media Brands
Former VW Exec Schmidt Gets Maximum Sentence in Diesel Scandal
Oliver Schmidt—the former Volkswagen AG executive who pleaded guilty in August to lying about VW’s diesel pollution cheating—has received the maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $400,000 fine.
#legal
Share
Oliver Schmidt—the former Volkswagen AG executive who pleaded guilty in August to lying about VW’s diesel pollution cheating—has received the maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a $400,000 fine.
Detroit U.S. District Judge Sean Cox describes Schmidt as a “key conspirator” who destroyed evidence, repeatedly lied to government officials and saw the cover-up as a way to advance his career.
Schmidt had been in charge of VW’s U.S. emission certification office. In that role, he admits misleading regulators about illegal pollution control software that VW used for 10 years. The so-called defeat device enabled 555,000 of the company’s diesel vehicles to pass U.S. emission tests but then release excessive pollution when driven on the road.
Schmidt was arrested in January as he was preparing to leave the U.S. and has been imprisoned since then as a flight risk. He will serve his sentence at a federal penitentiary in Michigan.
RELATED CONTENT
-
U.S. Court Filing Claims Bosch Aided VW Diesel Cheating
Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH actively aided Volkswagen AG’s efforts to cheat emission tests, according to a new court filing in the U.S.
-
VW Exec Detailed in 2006 How to Evade Diesel Standards
A presentation prepared in 2006 by a high-level Volkswagen AG technology executive shows in detail how the company could cheat U.S. emission tests for diesels, according to multiple media reports.
-
Court Ruling Exposes GM to Punitive Damages Over Ignition Switches
A new ruling by the federal judge who presided over General Motors Corp.’s 2009 bankruptcy could expose post-bankruptcy General Motors Co. to a wave of costly punitive damage awards linked to the company’s defective ignition switches.
