U.S. judge dismisses criminal charge in Toyota sudden acceleration case

WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a criminal charge against Toyota Motor Corp after the Japanese automaker completed three years of monitoring as part of a $1.2 billion settlement over claims of sudden unintended acceleration in its vehicles.

Judge William Pauley agreed to a U.S. Justice Department request to end the case stemming from the Japanese automaker's admission that it misled U.S. consumers by concealing and making deceptive statements about the extent of sudden acceleration problems in 2009 and 2010. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Jonathan Stempel; editing by Grant McCool)

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