high level v.w. figure to be convicted over diesel gate in the u.s. . this wednesday was perhaps the worst day of all of the schmitz life the engineer sentenced to seven years in prison and the toughest possible sentence for puppets writing fraud against consumers he was emotional he apologized he regrets his decisions he said he takes responsibility it's his fault. schmidt was responsible for us environmental matters at v.w. from twenty twelve until twenty fifteen the time that folks wagon admits to manipulating emissions tests using software loaded into its cars. he knew about the test manipulation and testified in court that he simply followed orders the judge ruled that without doubt the v.w. board shared responsibility for the scandal prosecutors said schmidt was in the same room as the c.e.o. they all worked on their stories that they would tell viewer thora teams. it