April 21 (UPI) -- A federal judge finalized a settlement Friday in which Volkswagen will pay a $2.8 billion fine for building diesel engines with emissions test-cheating software.
U.S. District Judge Sean Cox accepted a plea agreement between the company and the Justice Department in Detroit. Volkswagen pleaded guilty to three felonies on March 10. Earlier, the company admitted it equipped more than 500,000 engines with software designed to provide low readings of greenhouse gas emissions while the engines were tested. In January it agreed to a $4.8 billion fine, comprised of the $2.8 criminal fine and a $1.5 billion civil fine.