Volkswagen Executive Pleads Guilty in Diesel Emissions Case<br />Mr. Schmidt faces maximum penalties of five years in prison<br />and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge, and two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the environmental charge.<br />Mr. Schmidt admitted conspiring with other Volkswagen employees to mislead and defraud the United States in 2015 by failing to disclose<br />that thousands of diesel cars were rigged to evade detection of excess emissions levels.<br />Volkswagen has already pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud<br />and to violate the Clean Air Act, customs violations and obstruction of justice<br />DETROIT — A Volkswagen executive pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges arising<br />from a continuing investigation into the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.<br />Under a revision of the charges, he pleaded guilty to two counts: conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act.<br />The charges against the executive, Oliver Schmidt, stem from his role in Volkswagen’s decade-long<br />scheme to rig diesel cars with devices that circumvented federal emissions tests.
