General Motors has agreed to settle a federal criminal investigation into an ignition switch defect that led to the deaths of 124 people, according to Reuters. The company will pay $900 million and sign a deferred prosecution agreement.
The case will be temporary put on hold, but GM will still be charged criminally for hiding the defect from consumers and ultimately defrauding them.
The ignition switch defect made it easy for cars to lose power when the keys were hit or moved slightly, the Detroit Free Press reported. The ignition key would accidentally be moved from "on" to "accessory" mode, causing the loss of power steering and air bags.
A report from former U.S. attorney Anton Valukas found that GM knew, to some extent, about these defects for close to 10 years and failed to take any action, according to The Wall Street Journal. It wasn't until 2014 that GM finally released knowledge about the defect, recalling more than 26 million vehicles.
On top of the federal criminal investigation, GM is also facing more than 200 civil lawsuits in relation to the ignition switch defect, Reuters reported. The lawsuits range from seeking damages for deaths and injuries to financial losses due to vehicle value. These lawsuits will go to trial beginning in January 2016.
