Official at automaker FCA US pleads guilty in scheme to withhold emission systems information

DETROIT (AP) — An official at automaker FCA US has pleaded guilty in federal court in a scheme to withhold emission systems information on more than 100,000 vehicles. The Justice Department on Thursday announced Emanuele Palma’s plea to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. The 43-year-old Palma is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 17. Court documents say he and others conspired to withhold information from the Environmental Protection Agency about the design, calibration and function of the systems on 2014-2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 diesel vehicles. FCA US, formerly known as Chrysler Group, was placed on probation for three years last August and ordered to pay roughly $300 million for deceiving regulators about diesel emission systems on the vehicles.