GM was granted a second lease on life thanks to U.S. taxpayers, and for car enthusiasts on every shade, the move has been more than worth it. New GM is a leaner and better automaker in a lot of ways, but the shadow of Old GM still looms large in regards to the ignition defect scandal responsible for at least 124 deaths and 269 injuries.

But where Federal prosecutors had once seemed confident that individual employees could be prosecuted for their role in ignoring or hiding the deadly defect, that might no longer be the case, reports the New York Times. Legal loopholes carved out and defended by multiple players in the auto industry may ultimately shield most individuals from any kind of criminal prosecution.

The Time cites a case where lobbyists for major automakers pulled the teeth out of law requiring automakers to notify regulators of specific safety defects within five days. The original bill called for civil and criminal penalties, but the criminal penalties were removed at the behest of lobbyists. In the food and pharmaceutical industries, criminal charges can and are regularly leveled against employees and executives at every level. There are at least three instances on public record where the auto industry has fought against adding additional criminal punishments.

The auto industry is firmly entrenched in American politics at every level, and while politicians on both sides of the aisle have attempted to stiffen the penalties for cases just like this, they never seem to gain any traction. This isn’t a GM-specific thing either. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers represents not just GM, Ford, and FCA, as well as automakers from Europe and Japan as well.

That doesn’t mean GM is going to get off with just a slap on the wrist. While prosecutors have failed to pin the problem on any one employee, the automaker is still going to have to pay big for its mistakes. A victims fund is paying out at least $1 million to the families of those hurt or killed because of the ignition defect, and the Feds are sure to impose a stiff monetary fine to discourage this behavior again. New GM still has to pay for the sins of Old GM, in the most literal sense of the word.