A US court on Wednesday sentenced former Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt to seven years in prison for his role in the German automaker's "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal. In exchange for his plea, federal prosecutors dropped multiple counts of wire fraud, which carry a maximum of 20 years in prison. Schmidt has agreed to be deported back to Germany after his sentence is completed. In August, the same court sentenced James Liang, a Volkswagen engineer who had cooperated with investigating authorities, to 40 months and a $200,000 fine for his role in the affair. In arguing for a seven-year sentence, prosecutors last month said Schmidt had participated in "one of the largest corporate fraud schemes in American history" and led efforts to cover up the company's misconduct in the summer of 2015.

Source: The Local December 07, 2017 11:48 UTC