WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - An executive at Japan's Denso Corp has agreed to plead guilty to fixing the prices of automobile instrument panel clusters and to serve a prison sentence, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.
The executive is one of 36 who have pleaded guilty to fixing the prices of more than 30 auto parts, ranging from radiators to windshield wipers and air-conditioning systems. Twenty-seven companies - including auto parts maker Denso - have pleaded guilty in the long-running investigation.
In this case, Satoru Horisaki, a group leader for Denso at the time of the price fixing, agreed to plead guilty to fixing the prices for instrument panel clusters sold to Honda of America Manufacturing Company Inc, according to court papers filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Horisaki agreed to serve a prison sentence of one year and one day, the Justice Department said.
The prices were fixed from about 2009 to about February 2010, the Justice Department said in its filing. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Jim Loney and Bernadette Baum)