VW Exec Cops Plea In Emissions Case

(RTTNews) - A Volkswagen engineer has pleaded guilty to a charge that he conspired in the German carmaker's emissions cheating scandal.

James Robert Liang entered the plea on Friday in US District Court in Detroit to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. He has agreed to cooperate with criminal investigation.

Liang was the head of diesel competence for VW from 2008 until June. Liang faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Volkswagen installed software on about 500,000 diesel vehicles in the US that turned pollution controls on during government tests and turned them off while on the road.

The Environmental Protection Agency had discovered that these vehicles emitted up to 40 times the legal limit for nitrogen oxide.