Justice Department defends Boeing plea deal against criticism by 737 Max crash victims’ families

DALLAS (AP) — The Justice Department is defending a plea deal it struck with Boeing over planes that crashed and killed 346 people, saying in a court filing Wednesday that it lacks evidence to prosecute the company for more serious crimes.

Prosecutors said if the plea deal is rejected and the case goes to trial, they will not offer testimony or evidence about the causes of two crashes in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia, nor will they charge any Boeing individuals.

Boeing agreed last month to plead guilty to a single felony charge of conspiracy to commit fraud for deceiving regulators who approved the 737 Max. Under the plea deal, Boeing would pay a fine of at least $243.6 million, invest $455 million in compliance and safety programs, and be placed on probation for three years.

The Justice Department made Wednesday’s court filing in response to relatives of some of the people killed in the crashes, who asked a federal judge in Texas to reject the settlement. The relatives argue that the sentence approved by prosecutors is light punishment considering the loss of lives.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, can accept the plea agreement and proposed sentence, or he could reject the deal, which likely would lead to new negotiations between Boeing and the Justice Department.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Fraud trial of George Santos to begin next month with an anonymous jury </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline