Eric D. Lawrence

Detroit Free Press

A Volkswagen official at the heart of the German automaker's wide-ranging diesel emissions cheating scandal plans to plead guilty in the case.

"Prosecutors and lawyers in the Volkswagen AG criminal case informed U.S. District Judge Sean Cox this morning that defendant Oliver Schmidt has decided to plead guilty," according to a statement from U.S. district court this morning.

The statement said the agreement was announced during a 20-minute status conference. A plea hearing was set for 9:30 a.m. August 4.

Schmidt, a German national and Volkswagen's former top emissions compliance manager for the United States, had been charged with conspiracy. He worked at Volkswagen's research and development center in Auburn Hills.

He was accused of being a central figure in the VW case, which led to civil settlements worth about $17 billion for U.S. consumers and dealers who own the automaker's diesel vehicles and an additional $4.3 billion to settle criminal charges. The company's emissions cheating was uncovered in 2015.

Schmidt did not create the software that helped cheat emissions tests, but the government has said he took part in the cover-up.

In its indictment, the government said Schmidt told officials from the California Air Resources Board in August 2015 in Traverse City that emissions tests were flawed because of "abnormalities" or "irregularities" without revealing that Volkswagen had intentionally designed software "to detect, evade and defeat U.S. emissions testing."

He was one of six Volkswagen employees indicted in January. An engineer, James Robert Liang, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. last fall.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.