Oliver Schmidt (born 1969) is an engineer, former

Volkswagen AG Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...

executive and convicted felon who in 2017 was sentenced to seven years of prison due to his involvement in the

Volkswagen emissions scandal The Volkswagen emissions scandal, sometimes known as Dieselgate or Emissionsgate, began in September 2015, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to German automaker Vol ...

Biography

After studying

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Schmidt was employed by

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's he ...

. At the age of 35, Schmidt was transferred to the United States, where he from 2012 oversaw VW's emissions office in Michigan. In January 2017 while attempting to return to Germany after a vacation, Schmidt was arrested in a men's room at a Florida airport, charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States in the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Had Schmidt been able to board a plane and return to Germany, the chances of him being prosecuted would have been slim as it is unlikely that Germany would have extradited one of its own citizens to stand trial in the United States. In December 2017, having earlier pleaded guilty, a Federal judge in Detroit sentenced him to seven years in prison and fined him $400,000. Schmidt was inmate number 09786-104 and was incarcerated at U.S. Federal prison FCI Milan in

York Township, Michigan York Charter Township is a charter township of Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,708 at the 2010 census. The township is located north of the city of Milan and is home to the Federal Correctional Institutio ...

. His release date was set for 25 December 2022. In late September 2020, Schmidt was transferred to Germany where he was incarcerated at Hanover Correctional Center. In January 2021, he was released on parole after serving a bit more than half his sentence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Oliver 1969 births Living people German chief executives Chief executives in the automobile industry Volkswagen Group executives 21st-century German criminals Criminals from Lower Saxony