The U.S. Justice Department is considering an agreement that would allow Boeing Co. to avoid a criminal charge for two fatal crashes its 737 Max jets, according to lawyers representing family of the victims.
Federal prosecutors told representatives of the relatives on Friday that the department was deciding whether to enter into a nonprosecution agreement with the planemaker or proceed to a trial scheduled for June 23, Clifford Law Offices said in a statement.
If Boeing ultimately avoids criminal prosecution, it would mark a stunning turnaround by the government. Just last year, the Justice Department charged the planemaker with criminal conspiracy and accepted a guilty plea by the company. But it was rejected by a federal judge who objected to how an outside monitor would be selected and to his minimized role in overseeing Boeing‘s compliance with the deal.
The government hasn’t reached a final decision, the lawyers said. But the prospect of a nonprosecution deal has upset family . They’ve long contended Boeing executives should be held able for a flawed design that contributed to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The only Boeing official to face trial was a mid-level manager overseeing the pilot manuals and training materials. He was acquitted.
“This isn’t justice,” said Erin Applebaum, a partner with Kreindler & Kreindler, which represents 34 families of victims of the second crash. “It‘s a backroom deal dressed up as a legal proceeding, and it sends a dangerous message: in America, the rich and powerful can buy their way out of ability.”
The Justice Department declined to comment. Boeing didn’t immediately comment.
Under the nonprosecution agreement, Boeing would contribute $444.5 million to a crash victims’ fund that would be divided evenly per crash victim, according to the lawyers. The tentative agreement was reported earlier by Reuters.
Any deal between prosecutors and the company would have to be approved by US District Judge Reed O’Connor of Fort Worth, who has been presiding over the criminal case against Boeing from the beginning.
It started in 2021, when Boeing reached an agreement with the Justice Department to defer prosecution on a charge that it deceived regulators about a system linked to the crashes.
Earlier plea deal
That agreement and guilty plea were days away from expiring when a near-catastrophe on an airborne Max triggered new investigations into shoddy manufacturing practices. Last May, the government said the company violated that agreement and recommended a criminal charge, citing Boeing‘s failure to live up to its promises.
Boeing then agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy, pay a fine and install an independent corporate monitor in the since-rejected plea deal. The agreement would have also required the company to spend at least $455 million to bolster its compliance and safety programs.
O’Connor rejected the deal because he said it diminished the role of the court in ensuring compliance, and he took issue with language that required the selection of the independent monitor to “be made in keeping with the Department‘s commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
Ongoing talks
Since then, Boeing and U.S. prosecutors said in court filings they were working toward a new plea deal. As part of those negotiations, the planemaker in March sought to withdraw its guilty plea, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
One day later, O’Connor set a June 23 trial date in the case without explanation.
The full of the nonprosecution agreement were not immediately public and nothing official has been filed with the court. Traditionally, companies can avoid criminal charges under nonprosecution agreements if they comply with certain imposed by the government.