Volkswagen Engineer Gets 3 Years in Prison and $200,000 Fine

James Robert Liang pleads guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.

It’s a hard truth that every engineer has to face: your actions have far reaching consequences, some of which can extend well beyond your own lived experience. That’s a fact many Volkswagen engineers will be dealing with after the emissions scandal that rocked the company to its core.

What were VW’s engineers thinking?

It’s a question many engineers have no doubt asked themselves, perhaps even wondering whether they would have acted differently.

But even after the company finalized its settlement with the U.S. government and its cheat codes were revealed, two engineers have been dealing with the fallout from VW’s emissions scandal first-hand.

VW Engineer Pleads Guilty

James Robert Liang, a 63-year-old engineer who admitted that he helped write the illegal software VW used to circumvent U.S. emissions tests on its diesel vehicles, has been sentenced to three years in prison and a $200,000 USD fine.

Liang pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the government, commit wire fraud and violate the Clean Air Act. Although his sentence was less than the maximum allowed by law—five years in prison and $250,000—it’s not far off.

Liang’s lawyer had asked for a more lenient sentence of probation and 1,500 hours of community service. “What occurred here was wrong,” said Liang’s lawyer, Daniel Nixon, “But he wasn’t the mastermind. He was not motivated by greed.”

Volkswagen engineer James Robert Liang (left) leaves court in Detroit after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy in the company’s emissions cheating scandal. (Image courtesy of Virginia Lozano/Detroit News.)

Volkswagen engineer James Robert Liang (left) leaves court in Detroit after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy in the company’s emissions cheating scandal. (Image courtesy of Virginia Lozano/Detroit News.)

According to his plea agreement, Liang moved to the United States in May 2008 to assist in the launch of VW’s diesel vehicles with the cheating EA 189 engines. From that time onward, Liang was the leader of diesel compliance for VW Group of America, assisting in certification, testing and warranty issues for VW diesel vehicles in the U.S.

The plea also states that Liang knew that his (unnamed) co-conspirators, “falsely and fraudulently told U.S. customers and others that a software update in 2014 was intended to improve the vehicles when, in fact, Liang and his co-conspirators knew that part of the update was intended to improve the defeat device’s precision in order to reduce the stress on the emissions control systems.”

The plea concludes that “Liang and his co-conspirators caused defeat device software to be installed in all of approximately 500,000 VW diesel 2.0 liter light-duty passenger vehicles sold in the United States from 2009 through 2015.”

U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox, who oversaw the case, said, “The conspiracy perpetrated a massive and stunning fraud on the American consumer that attacked and destroyed the very foundation of our economic system.”

VW Executive Faced 169 Years in Prison

Oliver Schmidt, who was in change of VW’s environmental and engineering office in Auburn Hills, also pleaded guilty following his arrest earlier this year. At the time, federal prosecutors said Schmidt could have faced up to 169 years in prison for 11 felony counts, most of which were dropped as part of his guilty plea.

Oliver Schmidt. (Image courtesy of Broward County Sheriff's Office.)

Oliver Schmidt. (Image courtesy of Broward County Sheriff’s Office.)

Schmidt is scheduled to be sentenced in Detroit on December 6 and now faces up to seven years in prison and a fine of $40,000 to $400,000.

Other VW executives have been indicted, including Heinz-Jakob Neusser, former head of develop for VW Brand, and former heads of engine development, Jens Hadler and Richard Dorenkamp. However, as they reside in Germany, all three are most likely out of the Justice Department’s reach.

Both Liang and Schmidt will be deported to Germany following the conclusion of their prison sentences.

Do Liang and Schmidt deserve prison time for their actions? What about the other VW executives?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Written by

Ian Wright

Ian is a senior editor at engineering.com, covering additive manufacturing and 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. Ian holds bachelors and masters degrees in philosophy from McMaster University and spent six years pursuing a doctoral degree at York University before withdrawing in good standing.