. . . The engineer, James Liang, entered his plea in Detroit federal court Friday, his lawyer saying that Liang was "one of many at Volkswagen" involved in the fraud. He spent 25 years working for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, Germany, before moving to the U.S. in 2008 to become the company's U.S. head of "Diesel Competence."
Liang is cooperating with the emissions probe, which should put more pressure on higher-level VW officials, according to Bloomberg. . . .
"I know VW did not disclose the defeat device to U.S. regulators in order to sell cars in the U.S.," Liang told a judge Friday. . . .
Even after VW deployed the "defeat device" without attracting attention from regulators, engineers faced another issue in keeping the illegal software a secret. At one point, warranty claims related to emissions-control systems began to rise. Some of Liang's colleagues believed this was related to cars operating in the low-emission mode meant only for laboratory tests. So in 2014 the engineers updated the software, issuing a service campaign and telling customers it was for something unrelated.
Liang pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud against U.S. regulators and Volkswagen customers, and to violate the Clean Air Act. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss. Liang is to be sentenced January 11, 2017.