A Volkswagen (VW) [corporate website] engineer pleaded guilty [plea agreement, PDF] in federal court on Friday to one count of conspiracy to defraud the USA, commit wire fraud and violate the Clean Air Act [text, PDF] by implementing software in the manufacturer’s vehicles that could cheat United States emissions tests.
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“Some of Liang’s coconspirators believed that the increased claims were a result of the vehicle operating in testing mode too long, rather than switching to ‘road mode, ‘” the agreement notes.
While VW executives have claimed that the use of a defeat device to artificially limit emissions during tests was the work of a “couple of software engineers”, Liang’s plea deal shows that the conspiracy dates back roughly a decade and has roots in the team that designed the engines. Full details of the defeat device algorithms have not yet been made public.
James Liang, who has worked for VW for 33 years, is the first person to enter a plea in connection with the scandal.
It is the first criminal charge to be levied against anybody involved in the Volkswagen Group’s Dieselgate emissions cheat, and comes after a yearlong investigation from the US Department of Justice.
“Almost from the beginning of VW’s process to design its new “clean diesel” vehicles, Liang and his fellow co-conspirators designed these VW diesel vehicles not to meet US emissions standards, but to cheat the testing process”, the prosecutors stated in their indictment of Liang.
He said that the device was used to get the clean air certification on VW’s “clean diesel” models from 2009 to 2016, and that the group continued to lie about the emissions output of the engines even after the USA government began its investigation.
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Liang could face up to five years’ prison for his role in the conspiracy, but by working with U.S. law enforcement, this term may be reduced.
