Volkswagen emissions scandal executives plead guilty in US, could face 169 years in prison

According to Reuters, U.S. District Court spokesman David Ashenfelter said that prosecutors and lawyers informed U.S. District Judge Sean Cox on the morning of July 25 that Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt planned to plead guilty in the U.S. District Court in Detroit on August 4, admitting his involvement in the Volkswagen Group's emissions scandal.

Oliver Schmidt, head of Volkswagen's environment and engineering center in Michigan, was arrested in January when he tried to return to Germany and is one of eight executives charged in the U.S. investigation into Volkswagen's emissions scandal.

Schmidt's defense attorney, David DuMouchel, declined to comment. Schmidt has been charged with 11 felonies, and federal prosecutors said earlier this year that Schmidt could face up to 169 years in prison. The specific terms of Schmidt's plea agreement are still unclear. U.S. prosecutors have collected more than 4.3 million documents, totaling more than 40 million pages, in their investigation.

Jeannine Ginivan, a spokeswoman for Volkswagen, declined to discuss Schmidt's case and said the company "continues to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice in its investigation of employee conduct." Volkswagen has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to settle claims from car owners and regulators over related diesel vehicles and has offered to buy back about 500,000 vehicles.

James Liang, a Volkswagen employee, pleaded guilty to misleading U.S. regulators, is cooperating with U.S. prosecutors and will go on trial on August 25. Other executives indicted earlier include Heinz-Jakob Neusser, former head of research and development for the Volkswagen brand, and two former engine development chiefs, Jens Hadler and Richard Dorenkamp.

"It is clear that Volkswagen executives knew about this illegal activity and deliberately kept regulators, shareholders, and consumers in the dark for years," FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said in January. "We can't put the company in jail, but we can hold its employees accountable."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.