VW engineer sentenced in cheat scandal
DETROIT — A Volkswagen engineer who had a key role in the company’s diesel emissions scandal was sentenced yesterday to more than three years in prison and a $200,000 fine, a steeper punishment than prosecutors requested.
James Robert Liang, 63, knew the German automaker was cheating and worked to cover it up,
U.S. District
Court Judge
Sean Cox said during the sentencing hearing in Detroit. The judge imposed a 40-month prison sentence.
Liang, who faces deportation to Germany upon his release from prison, declined to speak on his own behalf yesterday. Prosecutors, who had requested a 36-month prison term and a $20,000 fine, said Liang was aware that VW used software to cheat U.S. emission rules on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.
Liang pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government and agreed to cooperate with investigators. Liang had asked the judge to consider a sentence of probation and 1,500 hours of community service.
He is one of two VW employees to plead guilty. Earlier this month, Oliver Schmidt, 48, a former manager of a VW engineering office in suburban Detroit, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges related to the scandal. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6.
VW itself pleaded guilty in March to defrauding the U.S. government and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in penalties, on top of billions more to buy back cars.
Volkswagen and U.S. environmental regulators announced an agreement last month on a plan for the automaker to fix most of the diesel cars involved in the emissions cheating scandal.