US judge sets August hearing on bid to end Boeing criminal prosecution

Washington: A US judge on Friday said he will hold an August 28 hearing on a request by the Justice Department and Boeing to approve an agreement that allows the planemaker to avoid prosecution on a charge stemming from two fatal 737 MAX plane crashes that killed 346 people.

The deal, which faces objections from relatives of some of those killed in the crashes in 2018 and 2019, enables Boeing to escape oversight from an independent monitor for three years.

Boeing last year agreed to plead guilty under a deal with prosecutors to a criminal fraud charge that it misled US regulators about a crucial flight control system on the 737 MAX, its best-selling jet.

US District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas said he will hear from lawyers or others who want to address the court about the proposed dismissal of the charge it misled US regulators about a crucial flight control system on the 737 MAX.

Some family members argue dismissal is not in the public interest and obligations imposed on Boeing are not enforceable and have cited O'Connor's statement in 2023 that "Boeing's crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history."

Boeing argued the executive branch solely has the power to decide whether to bring or maintain a prosecution, asking O'Connor to reject objections filed by the families and grant the government's motion to dismiss the criminal fraud conspiracy charge.

If the government declined to move forward with the prosecution even if the court rejected the deal, O'Connor should appoint a special prosecutor, some families said.

Under the non-prosecution agreement, Boeing agreed to pay an additional $444.5 million into a crash victims fund to be divided evenly per crash victim of the two fatal 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, on top of a new $243.6 million fine.

Under the non-prosecution agreement, Boeing will pay $1.1 billion in total, including the fine, compensation to families and more than $455 million to strengthen the company’s compliance, safety and quality programs.

The vast majority of the families have settled civil suits with Boeing and collectively have been "paid several billion dollars," the Justice Department said.