Overview
(June 1, 2026, Washington, DC) — Steptoe secured a significant victory for long-time client Gianluca Sabbioni, achieving the complete dismissal of all criminal charges in the US Department of Justice's high-profile diesel emissions case against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles engineers. As a result, Steptoe was recognized as a "Runner-Up" for Litigator of the Week by The AmLaw Litigation Daily.
The US Department of Justice launched its investigation into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) in 2019 over alleged diesel emissions cheating involving more than 100,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram vehicles, leading to a $500 million civil settlement. Prosecutors later charged two Italian engineers, our client Gianluca Sabbioni and Sergio Pasini, represented by Willkie, accusing them of designing calibration strategies that acted as "defeat devices" to deceive emissions tests. DOJ claimed the pair misled regulators and concealed the true purpose of the technology, prompting a criminal case against FCA, which pled guilty in 2022, paid $300 million in fines, and recalled affected vehicles. With prior civil resolutions, FCA's total penalties reached approximately $800 million, and DOJ touted the prosecution as a major enforcement milestone.
Sabbioni and Pasini mounted a global defense led by Steptoe and Willkie. Working with co-counsel in Italy, the teams successfully opposed DOJ's extradition request, securing a landmark 2025 decision by the Italian court denying extradition—an exceptionally rare outcome for a US request within the EU. In parallel, extensive discovery revealed that regulators had been aware of and largely deemed the calibration strategies compliant, undermining DOJ’s original theory. When prosecutors shifted their position to focus on alleged nondisclosures within FCA, defense counsel produced evidence showing the engineers had fully informed FCA's regulatory team. Confronted with this record, prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment on May 19, 2026, acknowledging that "the interests of justice are best served" by doing so. Two days later, the court dismissed all charges, ending a case that once carried potential twenty-year prison sentences.
The Steptoe team was led by partners Chris Niewoehner, Jason Weinstein, and Drew Harris, senior counsel Steve Levin, and associate Troy Shephard.
About Steptoe
In more than 110 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients and innovative thinking before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
