VW executive Oliver Schmidt sentenced to seven years in jail over Dieselgate
Former Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt has been handed down a seven-year prison sentence in a US court, after pleading guilty to charges stemming from his role in the German carmaker's emissions-cheating scandal.
Schmidt, who led the German automaker's US regulatory compliance office from 2012 to March 2015, was sentenced to seven years in jail and a $400,000 (€339,140) fine on charges of fraud conspiracy and violating the US Clean Air Act.
In a deal with prosecutors, Schmidt earlier agreed to enter a guilty plea in exchange for a lesser sentence. As a result, prosecutors dropped the most serious charge of wire fraud, which would have carried a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Schmidt had played a role in lying to US regulators once questions were raised about the cars, before the company finally admitted the wrongdoing.
Oliver Schmidt is the second VW executive jailed in the German carmaker's Dieselgate scandal in which the company installed devices to intentionally cheat diesel emissions tests.
VW admitted in 2015 to equipping about 11 million cars worldwide with the defeat devices, including about 600,000 vehicles in the United States.
VW executive Oliver Schmidt sentenced to seven years in jail over Dieselgate | Business | DW | 06.12.2017