I'd argue there is a difference between making a faulty product and then failing to fix it, and intentionally making a device to circumvent the law.
GM also paid 900 million dollars to the government as a fine and set aside 600 million to pay victims of the car.
A report was commissioned which basically says GM failed to understand its own cars enough to understand why the failure was important. Another apparent compounding factor was the 2008 bankruptcy of GM.
