Federal prosecutors are sending the auto industry a clear message that the UAW-Fiat Chrysler Automobiles probe is not ending anytime soon.
"The investigation and prosecution are far from over," Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Shaw wrote in the court filing acquired by The Detroit News in a Tuesday report.
The disclosure appeared in a court filing related to an issue with restitution owed by former FCA Vice President Alphons Iacobelli.
"This is ratcheting up the pressure and says the UAW and Fiat Chrysler were more deeply involved than we've seen to this point," Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor, told The News.
Iacobelli faces tax restitution of $835,000 as a part of his 66-month prison sentence. In January, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to violate the Labor Management Relations Act and for subscribing a false tax return. He had faced a statutory maximum of eight years in prison.
Others charged in the investigation include former FCA financial analyst Jerome Durden; former FCA employee Michael Brown; ex-UAW Associate Director Virdell King; UAW official Keith Mickens; and Nancy Johnson, a former top aide to ex-UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell.
Johnson was charged with misusing funds but has not yet been arraigned. Jewell has been implicated in the scandal but not formally named as a conspirator by investigators.
Larry P. Vellequette contributed to this report.