Ignition Recall Settlement Will Cost GM $900 Million

GM will pay $900 million to settle a criminal investigation with federal prosecutors over the delayed recall of some 2.6 million cars — 2.2 million of them in the U.S. — over faulty ignition switches, The Detroit News reports. Prosecutors will reportedly charge the automaker with at least two felony counts for misleading consumers and hiding information from regulators over the recall, which affected mostly 2000s-era Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion compacts. The defect, which could cause the ignition to rotate out of the On position and the car to turn off while in motion, has been linked to 124 deaths, according to the newspaper.

Related: What Were the Largest Recalls in 2014?

The automaker recalled the cars between Feb. 25 and April 9, 2014. It later revised the recall totals to 2.36 million globally, with 1.96 million stateside. After an internal investigation showed GM ignored the problem for years, the automaker fired 15 employees.

This isn’t the first time an automaker has paid a big settlement to the Justice Department. In March 2014, Toyota paid $1.2 billion to settle with prosecutors over how it handled unintended-acceleration recalls in 2009 and 2010.

Go here to read the full story from The Detroit News.