“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,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement.
FCA US agreed in June 2022 to pay about $300 million in criminal penalties arising from its efforts to evade emissions requirements for more than 100,000 older Ram pickup trucks and Jeep sport-utility vehicles in its U.S. lineup.
FCA US previously paid a $311 million civil penalty and over $183 million in compensation to over 63,000 people as part of a class-action diesel lawsuit.
The Detroit News reported that Palma resigned from his job on Wednesday. His LinkedIn profile says he lives in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., a Detroit suburb, and that his title was senior manager – diesel engine calibration. He joined FCA in January 2015, the profile says.
