Under a revision of the charges, he pleaded guilty to two counts: conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act. A third charge of aiding and abetting wire fraud was rolled into the conspiracy charge.

Mr. Schmidt admitted conspiring with other Volkswagen employees to mislead and defraud the United States in 2015 by failing to disclose that thousands of diesel cars were rigged to evade detection of excess emissions levels. He also admitted filing fraudulent emissions reports to regulators.

Mr. Schmidt faces maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge, and two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the environmental charge. He is to be sentenced on Dec. 6.

There was no discussion at the hearing of his potential role as a witness in other federal cases.

Volkswagen has already pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to violate the Clean Air Act, customs violations and obstruction of justice.

The company agreed to pay $4.3 billion in civil and criminal penalties in the case brought by the Justice Department. The penalties were part of $22 billion in settlements and fines that Volkswagen is paying in connection with the cheating scandal and the sale of vehicles that emit harmful levels of pollution.

Mr. Schmidt was a key player in Volkswagen’s efforts to deceive regulators in the United States about the company’s compliance with federal emissions rules. He acted as a liaison to federal and California regulators during a period when, according to the authorities, Volkswagen was engaged in an orchestrated attempt to conceal the emissions fraud.

Mr. Schmidt reported to Heinz-Jakob Neusser, the former head of engine development at Volkswagen, who is among eight Volkswagen executives to be charged in the United States. Mr. Neusser reported to the Volkswagen management board.

One of the executives charged, James Robert Liang, has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and violating the Clean Air Act, and is awaiting sentencing.

Last month, Zaccheo Pamio, an Italian who worked for Volkswagen’s Audi luxury division, was arrested by German authorities after being indicted here.

The other executives charged in the United States are Germans residing in Germany, which does not extradite its citizens, making it unlikely they will face prosecution in an American court. </s> A Volkswagen executive pleaded guilty on Friday to federal charges arising from a continuing investigation into the automaker’s diesel

The charges against the executive, Oliver Schmidt, stem from his role in Volkswagen’s decade-long scheme to rig diesel cars with devices that circumvented

Schmidt, 48, the former head of Volkswagen’s environmental and engineering center in Michigan, had been facing three charges since his arrest in January.

He has been held without bond in prison pending trial. But last week his lawyers told a federal judge here that Schmidt had decided to enter a guilty plea.

Under a revision of the charges, he pleaded guilty to two counts: conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the A third charge of aiding and abetting wire fraud was rolled into the conspiracy charge.

Schmidt admitted conspiring with other Volkswagen employees to mislead and defraud the United States in 2015 by failing to disclose that thousands of diesel cars were rigged to evade detection of excess emissions levels. He also admitted filing fraudulent emissions reports to regulators. </s> A longtime Volkswagen engineer has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for his role in the German automaker’s global emissions cheating scandal.

James Robert Liang, 62, a Newbury Park, Calif. resident, entered his plea Friday. Though he was indicted under seal on June 1 by a federal grand jury, the indictment was unsealed Friday. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Sean Cox of the Eastern District of Michigan.

As part of the plea agreement, Liang will cooperate with the government as part of its ongoing investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

Volkswagen said in a statement that it is “continuing to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice,” but couldn't comment on the indictment.

Liang was indicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, to commit wire fraud and to violate the Clean Air Act. According to the plea agreement, after he and his “co-co-conspirators” realized they couldn’t design a diesel engine that met strict U.S. regulations, they designed and implemented so-called “defeat devices” that would recognize when vehicles were being tested.

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8:55 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 8:20 a.m. </s> Volkswagen AG executive Oliver Schmidt pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit in a diesel emissions scandal involving the German auto maker.

Under a plea agreement, Schmidt is expected to face up to seven years in prison and a fine of between $40,000 and $400,000 after admitting to conspiring to mislead U.S regulators and violating clean air laws.

In March, Volkswagen pleaded guilty to three felony counts under a plea agreement to resolve U.S. charges it installed secret software in vehicles to evade emissions tests and agreed to spend up to $25-billion to resolve various claims. </s> DETROIT (AP) - A Volkswagen engineer has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in the company’s emissions-cheating scandal and has agreed to cooperate in the widening criminal investigation.

James Robert Liang, 62, of Newberry Park, California, entered the plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government through wire fraud.

Volkswagen has admitted to installing software on about 500,000 2-liter diesel engines in VW and Audi models in the U.S. that turned pollution controls on during government tests and turned them off while on the road. The Environmental Protection Agency found that the cars emitted up to 40 times the legal limit for nitrogen oxide, which can cause human respiratory problems.

Liang was indicted in June on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and another count of violating the Clean Air Act. He allegedly helped design the computer software that cheated on diesel-emissions tests. The indictment alleges Liang and unnamed co-conspirators resorted to using the cheating software after realizing the cars couldn’t both meet consumer expectations for performance and satisfy U.S. emissions standards.

Liang pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge Friday morning before Judge Sean Cox. He will be sentenced on Jan. 11. The judge said that sentencing guidelines call for Liang to serve five years in prison.

The cooperation of Liang, who began work in Wolfsburg, Germany, and also worked in the U.S., is a major breakthrough in the Justice Department’s investigation into the automaker’s cheating scandal. His cooperation could lead to other criminal charges against VW and the unidentified co-conspirators. </s> DETROIT — A German Volkswagen executive pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and fraud charges in Detroit in a scheme to cheat emission rules on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.

Shackled at the wrists and ankles and wearing red prison garb, Oliver Schmidt appeared before U.S. District Judge Sean Cox as part of the U.S. government’s case involving the automaker, which has admitted to using software to get around U.S. emission standards.

Schmidt, 48, is a former manager of a VW engineering office in suburban Detroit who was arrested in January while on vacation in Miami. He faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the U.S., wire fraud and violation of the Clean Air Act. A second count of giving false statement under the Clean Air Act carries a possible sentence of up to two years in prison.

He remains jailed and is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6. He also could face deportation.

Schmidt is accused of telling regulators technical problems were to blame for the difference in emissions in road and lab tests.

VW 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. Most of the VW employees charged in a scheme are in Germany and out of reach of U.S. authorities.

U.S. authorities had been pressing Volkswagen over emissions test discrepancies and the cheating had been going for several years. In 2015, news emerged in the U.S. of Volkswagen’s use of software that turned off emissions controls.

The software detected when cars were being tested and turned the emission controls off during normal driving. The result was the cars emitted more than 40 times the U.S. limit for the pollutant nitrogen oxide.

Schmidt told Cox on Friday that VW management directed him in 2015 not to discuss the software.

Some 11 million cars worldwide were equipped with the software. Meeting U.S. emissions standards were part of the company’s “clean diesel” marketing strategy.

“You knew these representations made to U.S. consumers were false,” Cox told Schmidt.

VW reached a $15 billion civil settlement in the U.S. with environmental authorities and car owners. </s> A Volkswagen AG engineer pleaded guilty on Friday to helping the German automaker evade US emission standards, becoming the first person US authorities have charged in their investigation.

James Liang, who has worked for VW since 1983 and was part of a team of engineers who developed a diesel engine, was charged in an indictment made public on Friday with conspiring to commit wire fraud and violating US clean air laws.

The 62 year-old German citizen, who lives in Newbury Park, California, appeared in US District Court in Detroit on Friday and entered into a plea agreement that includes his cooperation with the government in its investigation. The indictment says Liang conspired with current and former VW employees to mislead US regulators about the software that allowed the automaker to circumvent the nation’s emission standards.

Liang could face up to five years in prison but could get a much lighter sentence if the government finds he provided substantial assistance.

VW spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan declined to comment on the indictment. “Volkswagen is continuing to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice,” she said.

The company has already agreed to spend up to $16.5 billion to address environmental, state and owner claims in the United States. It still faces billions in potential fines and must resolve the fate of 85,000 polluting 3.0-liter vehicles.

Reuters reported in August that VW and the Justice Department had held preliminary settlement talks about resolving a criminal probe into the emissions scandal.

Liang was indicted in June, but the indictment was only made public on Friday. </s> A German Volkswagen executive pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and fraud charges in Detroit in a scheme to cheat emission rules on nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles.

Shackled at the wrists and ankles and wearing red prison garb, Oliver Schmidt appeared before US District Judge Sean Cox as part of the US government's case involving the automaker, which has admitted to using software to get around US emission standards.

Schmidt, 48, is a former manager of a VW engineering office in suburban Detroit who was arrested in January while on vacation in Miami.

He faces up to five years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the US, wire fraud and violation of the Clean Air Act. A second count of giving false statement under the Clean Air Act carries a possible sentence of up to two years in prison.

He remains jailed and is scheduled to be sentenced December 6. Schmidt also faces a fine of between $40,000 and $400,000 and could be deported back to Germany.

Schmidt is accused of telling regulators technical problems were to blame for the difference in emissions in road and lab tests.

'Schmidt participated in a fraudulent VW scam that prioritized corporate sales at the expense of the honesty of emissions tests and trust of the American purchasers,' Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams, who is in the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a news release following Friday's plea.

Schmidt was initially charged with 11 felony counts carrying a maximum of up to 169 years in prison. His attorney declined to comment after the plea hearing.

VW pleaded guilty in March to defrauding the US government and agreed to pay $4.3billion in penalties, on top of billions more to buy back cars. Most of the VW employees charged in a scheme are in Germany and out of reach of US authorities.

James Liang, a VW employee who pleaded guilty to misleading regulators, is cooperating with prosecutors and will be sentenced on August 25.

US authorities had been pressing Volkswagen over emissions test discrepancies and the cheating had been going for several years. In 2015, news emerged in the US of Volkswagen's use of software that turned off emissions controls.

The software detected when cars were being tested and turned the emission controls off during normal driving. The result was the cars emitted more than 40 times the US limit for the pollutant nitrogen oxide.

Schmidt told Cox on Friday that VW management directed him in 2015 not to discuss the software.

Some 11 million cars worldwide were equipped with the software. Meeting US emissions standards were part of the company's 'clean diesel' marketing strategy.

'You knew these representations made to US consumers were false,' Cox told Schmidt.

VW reached a $15billion civil settlement in the US with environmental authorities and car owners.

Volkswagen said on Friday it 'continues to cooperate with investigations by the Department of Justice into the conduct of individuals. It would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations or to discuss personnel matters.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-4761396/Volkswagen-exec-pleads-guilty-U-S-emissions-cheating-case.html#ixzz4ool4uFrC Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook </s> DETROIT (AP) — A Volkswagen engineer has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in the company's emissions cheating scandal and has agreed to cooperate in the widening criminal investigation.

James Robert Liang, 62, of Newberry Park, California, entered the plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government through wire fraud. Liang is the first person to enter a plea in the emissions-cheating scheme.

Volkswagen has admitted to installing software on about 500,000 2-liter diesel engines in VW and Audi models in the U.S. that turned pollution controls on during government tests and turned them off while on the road. The Environmental Protection Agency found that the cars emitted up to 40 times the legal limit for nitrogen oxide, which can cause human respiratory problems.

Liang was indicted in June on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and another count of violating the Clean Air Act. According to a plea agreement unsealed Friday, Liang admitted that he and others planned a special software function, known as a defeat device, that could cheat U.S. emissions tests after recognizing that a diesel engine they were designing could not meet customer expectations and stricter emissions standards. Using the defeat device enabled VW to obtain a certificate from the Environmental Protection Agency needed to sell the cars in the U.S.

Liang pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge before Judge Sean Cox. He will be sentenced on Jan. 11. The judge said that sentencing guidelines call for Liang to serve five years in prison.

The cooperation of Liang, who began work in Wolfsburg, Germany, and also worked in the U.S., is a major breakthrough in the Justice Department's investigation into the automaker's cheating scandal. His cooperation could lead to other criminal charges against VW and the unidentified co-conspirators.

Volkswagen wouldn't comment on the plea but said Friday that it continues to cooperate in the investigation.

In one 2007 meeting in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with government officials, Liang participated as his co-conspirators misrepresented that VW's diesel vehicles complied with U.S. emissions standards, according to the plea agreement.

"Liang knew that VW was cheating by implementing the defeat device and that he and his co-conspirators were considering deceiving EPA in this meeting," the plea agreement states.

In May 2008, the indictment says Liang transferred from Volkswagen headquarters in Germany to the U.S. to help oversee the launch of the new "clean diesel" models. Investigators uncovered internal company emails that show Liang and other VW engineers exchanged ideas about how to "effectively calibrate the defeat device" so that the cars would recognize when they were undergoing U.S. emissions testing. The software was designed to recognize when the cars were being tested on a treadmill-like device called a dynamometer.

In 2013, Liang and others exchanged messages in German about software that recognized when the engine was revving but the steering wheel was not moving, an indication that the car was undergoing a dynamometer lab test. The software then calibrated the engine to run cleaner than it would in real world driving, in order to pass the test, according to the indictment.

"If this goes through without problems, the function is probably truly watertight! ;-)" one of the VW employees messaged Liang in German.

Eric Tucker and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.
A former Volkswagen executive pleads guilty to defrauding the United States and violating the Clean Air Act.