US Justice department reaches deal with Boeing to avoid prosecution

The US Justice department (DoJ) said on Friday it has struck a deal in principle with Boeing to allow it to avoid prosecution in a fraud case stemming from two fatal 737 MAX plane crashes that killed 346 people, dealing a blow to victims’ relatives.

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The agreement allows Boeing to avoid being branded a convicted felon and was harshly criticized by many families who lost relatives in the crashes and had pressed prosecutors to take the US planemaker to trial. A lawyer for family members and two US senators had urged the Justice department not to abandon its prosecution, but the government quickly rejected the requests.

“This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in US history. My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject it,” said Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing many of the families.

Boeing agreed to pay an additional $444.5 million into a crash victims’ fund that would be divided evenly per crash victim on top of an additional $243.6-million fine.

The Justice department expects to file the written agreement with Boeing by the end of next week. Boeing will no longer face oversight by an independent monitor under the agreement.