The US Department of Justice plans to propose that Boeing plead guilty for fraud in connection with two deadly plane crashes involving its 737 Max jets, according to two people who heard federal prosecutors detail the offer on Sunday.
Boeing will have until the end of next week to accept or reject the offer, which includes the giant aerospace company agreeing to an independent monitor who will oversee compliance with anti-fraud laws, they said.
The Justice Department told relatives of some of the 346 people who died in the 2018 and 2019 crashes about the plea offer during a video conference, according to Mark Lindquist, one of the lawyers representing the families suing Boeing, and another person who heard him call prosecutors.
During the meeting, family members expressed anger that prosecutors wanted to offer Boeing the chance to plead guilty to a 3-year-old charge rather than pursue additional charges and a trial. One said prosecutors were misleading families; another shouted at them for several minutes when given the chance to speak.
“We are upset. They should just sue,” said Nadia Milleron, a Massachusetts resident whose 24-year-old daughter, Samya Stumo, died in the second of two 737 Max crashes. “They’re saying we can argue with the judge.”
Prosecutors told the families that if Boeing rejected the plea offer, the Justice Department would seek a trial in the matter, they said.
Boeing declined to comment.
The meeting came weeks after prosecutors told a federal judge that the American aerospace giant violated a January 2021 agreement that protected Boeing from criminal prosecution in connection with the accidents In Indonesia It is in Ethiopia.
A conviction could jeopardize Boeing’s status as a federal contractor, according to some legal experts. The company has major contracts with the Pentagon and NASA.
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