US judge should reject Boeing plea deal, crash victim families say

U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor should reject a "sweetheart" plea deal the Justice Department struck with Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab, relatives of 15 of the 346 people killed in two fatal 737 MAX crashes said on Thursday. Late Wednesday, the planemaker finalized an agreement to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay at least $243.6m after breaching a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. Family members said in a court filing in Texas that they will submit a comprehensive objection to the plea deal by next week, arguing that there are a number of issues, including its "outdated and misleading statement of facts," use of "inaccurate sentencing guidelines" and "ambiguous restitution commitment" by Boeing. The families cited O'Connor's statement in a February 2023 ruling: "Boeing's crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history." Spokespeople for Boeing and the Justice Department declined to comment on the families' filing. The DOJ told Boeing earlier this month it could accept a settlement that branded the planemaker a felon or fight the charge in court. The Justice Department said in May that Boeing had breached its obligations in the agreement that shielded the planemaker from criminal prosecution stemming from misrepresentations about a key software feature tied to fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia.<br/>