July 20, 2022 (UPI) — Emanuele Palma, an executive at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has entered a guilty plea in a felony conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act.
According to officials from the Justice Department, Palma and his associates utilized “software defeat devices” to manipulate vehicle emissions during testing of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 diesel vehicles. They deliberately concealed the use of these devices from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Palma admitted his involvement in the offense, as revealed in court documents. At the time, he was working as a calibration engineer for the company in Italy.
The sentencing for this federal court case is scheduled to take place in Detroit on October 17, 2023.
“Senior auto officials at FCA US, including Mr. Palma, conspired to circumvent pollution standards and obtain EPA certifications for hundreds of thousands of SUVs and pickup trucks under false pretenses,” stated Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim in an official statement.
As per the Justice Department, the auto executives deliberately calibrated FCA diesel engines to emit lower amounts of nitrogen oxide pollution during test cycles compared to real-world driving conditions.
They conspired to keep the EPA unaware of the software function they used, known as “T Eng.” By omitting this information from FCA’s applications for Certificates of Conformity with the EPA, the vehicles obtained approval for sale in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
The guilty plea made by Palma is connected to FCA U.S. LLC’s corporate plea and sentencing in August 2022. During that case, the automaker was fined $96.1 million and ordered to forfeit over $203.5 million. FCA is also on a three-year term of organizational probation.
“Mr. Palma and his colleagues intentionally withheld crucial information from the EPA about the operational details of certain Fiat Chrysler diesel engines,” stated U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Our environmental laws depend on companies being honest and transparent with the EPA regarding the environmental impact of their products. The actions in this case fell far short of that standard, and the guilty plea serves as a form of accountability for this deceptive behavior.”
In 2015, Volkswagen was found to have installed “defeat devices” that manipulated emissions during testing, resulting in a significant fine for the company. In 2020, Germany’s highest court ordered Volkswagen to buy back vehicles and compensate approximately 60,000 owners up to $31,000 per vehicle due to the presence of illegal emissions software.
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