Four former Volkswagen executives were found guilty of fraud charges Monday for their role in an emissions-cheating scandal that shook the auto industry a decade ago and hastened a shift from fossil fuels to battery-powered cars.

The four executives held high-ranking positions at the carmaker and were responsible for engine technology. A panel of judges in Braunschweig, Germany, a city near Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, reached the verdict after a trial lasting more than three years. The reading of the sentences lasted almost four hours.

Two of the managers received multiyear prison sentences, and two received suspended sentences. Jens Hadler, who oversaw diesel engine development, received the longest prison sentence, at 4 1/2 years. Another ex-manager who worked in engine electronics, Hanno Jelden, received two years and seven months. The two men given suspended sentences were Heinz-Jakob Neusser, who was responsible for components development and was sentenced to one year and three months, and a man identified as Thorsten D., an emissions specialist who received one year and 10 months.

The chair of the panel of judges, Christian Schütz, said that the ex-managers were found guilty of “particularly serious” fraud, referring to them at one point as a “gang.” According to Schütz, Hadler knew about the test results of the manipulated software since at least September 2007. Emails between managers suggested that these results were only intended to be known by a small group within the company.

The verdict can be appealed within one week, and Philipp Gehrmann, who represents Jelden, told reporters that he believed the verdict was “wrong,” mainly because his client was cooperative.

Volkswagen has admitted that some of its engineers installed software in diesel-powered vehicles that allowed the cars to recognize when they were being tested for emissions. If so, the cars increased their emission controls to be compliant with air-quality regulations. At other times, the cars were more polluting than long-haul trucks. The cars were not capable of consistently adhering to emissions rules.

Before the cheating came to light in 2015, cars that ran on diesel fuel accounted for more than half the market in Europe. The scandal discredited diesel technology, which Volkswagen had marketed as “clean,” and it now accounts for less than 10% of new cars registered in Europe. Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids command 25% of the new-car market.

Volkswagen has focused on electric cars in an attempt to repair its reputation and has since become the leading manufacturer of the technology in Europe, selling three times as many battery-powered vehicles there in April as Tesla, according to figures compiled by JATO Dynamics, a market research firm.

More than 30 former Volkswagen engineers and managers await trial in the case. Among them is Martin Winterkorn, a former CEO of the company. His trial has been on hold because he is in poor health. It is unclear when or if the proceedings will continue. Winterkorn has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The highest-ranking former executive to be convicted in connection with the scandal so far was Rupert Stadler, the former CEO of Audi, Volkswagen’s luxury car unit. Stadler pleaded guilty to charges in 2023. He received a suspended sentence and agreed to pay a fine of more than $1 million.

The four men convicted Monday were among a group of engineers and managers who conspired to dupe regulators after realizing they could not meet emissions requirements within the financial constraints they had been given.