In the span of 48 hours last January, former U.S. District Attorney Barbara McQuade secured guilty pleas and a combined $5.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties from one of the world's largest automakers and a major airbag supplier.

McQuade's Detroit office announced on Jan. 11 that Volkswagen AG would plead guilty and pay $4.3 billion related to a conspiracy to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. On Jan. 13, Takata Corp. pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1 billion over defective airbag inflator components that were linked to 17 deaths and hundreds of injuries worldwide.

The scandals rocked the industry, and in Takata's case prompted the largest recall in automotive history, forcing it to file for bankruptcy. McQuade's office charged three Takata executives with wire fraud and conspiracy, and it indicted six VW executives and employees. In both instances, McQuade said that corrupt corporations would be "held accountable" for their actions.

McQuade, 52, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010, joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in May after President Donald Trump ordered her and 45 other remaining Obama-era U.S. attorneys to resign.