Boeing announced it will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge related to two fatal 737 Max crashes that resulted in the deaths of 346 people.
It comes after the Justice Department offered a plea deal to the plane-maker following the government finding that Boeing breached an agreement shielding it from prosecution for over three years, Associated Press reported.
Last week, federal prosecutors offered Boeing a choice: plead guilty and pay a fine as part of the sentence, or face trial on a felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Pending approval by a federal judge, the plea deal mandates Boeing pay an additional $243.6 million fine—the same amount from the breached 2021 settlement. An independent monitor will oversee Boeing's safety and quality procedures for three years. Boeing must also invest at least $455 million in compliance and safety programs.
The deal only relates to Boeing's actions prior to the crashes, which claimed 346 lives. It does not offer immunity for other incidents, such as a panel detaching from a Max jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
The agreement covers only the corporation, not current or former Boeing officials.
The Justice Department, in a Sunday night filing, said it expects to file the written plea agreement with the court by July 19.
Lawyers representing some victims' families, who were briefed on the plea offer a week ago, are planning to urge the judge to reject the deal.
"This sweetheart deal fails to recognize that because of Boeing's conspiracy, 346 people died. Through crafty lawyering between Boeing and DOJ, the deadly consequences of Boeing's crime are being hidden," said Paul Cassell, a lawyer for some of the families.
The Justice Department charged Boeing in 2021 with conspiring to defraud the government by misleading regulators about the 737 Max's flight-control system, implicated in the crashes in Indonesia (October 2018) and Ethiopia (March 2019).
As part of the 2021 settlement, the Justice Department agreed not to prosecute Boeing if it met certain conditions for three years. Prosecutors alleged Boeing violated these terms last month.
The guilty plea will be entered in U.S. District Court in Texas. The presiding judge, who previously criticized Boeing's "egregious criminal conduct," could accept or reject the plea and its proposed sentence, potentially prompting new negotiations.
U.S. agencies could use a criminal conviction to exclude Boeing from government contracts, a significant concern given Boeing's role as a major contractor for the Defense Department and NASA.
