“A federal judge in Detroit on Friday accepted a guilty plea from Volkswagen on three federal charges connected to the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal,” the Detroit Free Press reported:
However, Judge Sean Cox said he wanted more time to review the terms of a proposed settlement agreement of $4.3 billion, an amount far less than what the company could be fined under federal sentencing guidelines.
“With all due respect … this is a very, very serious offence,” Cox said. “It is incumbent on me to make a considered a decision.”
Cox scheduled another hearing for April 21.
Volkswagen did, however, appear in court, plead guilty and waive its right to a jury trial in a wide-ranging investigation into the company’s diesel engines that were equipped with software designed to fool federal emissions tests.
Manfred Doess, Volkswagen’s general counsel, traveled from Germany to Detroit to appear on behalf of the world’s largest automaker.
Read more at:Â https://www.therecord.com/news-story/7184404-volkswagen-apologizes-pleads-guilty-to-fraud/
– – –
Editor’s note:Â In 2011 Volkswagen opened an assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee that currently employs 2,000.
