A former executive at FCA US, formerly known as Chrysler Group, has admitted guilt in a federal court for his role in a scheme to conceal emissions systems data on over 100,000 vehicles. Emanuele Palma, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. His sentencing is scheduled for October 17th.
Court documents reveal that Palma and others collaborated to withhold crucial information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the design, calibration, and functionality of emission systems in 2014-2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 diesel models. Furthermore, they misrepresented the vehicles' pollutant emissions, fuel efficiency, and adherence to U.S. emissions regulations.
This guilty plea follows FCA US's own admission of guilt to conspiracy in a Detroit federal court last year. In August 2022, the company was sentenced to three years of probation and fined approximately $300 million for misleading regulators about the diesel emission systems in these same vehicles. FCA, now part of Stellantis, had previously agreed to this sentence as part of a plea agreement in June 2022.
The case revolves around accusations that engineers employed software manipulation and other tactics to meet U.S. emission standards while deceptively marketing the vehicles as "clean EcoDiesel." Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim, of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, stated that senior auto officials at FCA US, including Palma, conspired to bypass pollution regulations and fraudulently obtain EPA certifications for a large number of SUVs and pickup trucks.
This case echoes the 2017 Volkswagen emissions scandal, in which the automaker was ordered to pay a $2.8 billion criminal penalty for cheating on U.S. diesel emissions tests, along with $1.5 billion in a civil settlement and $11 billion for vehicle buybacks and other compensation.
