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The US Department of Justice is considering a non-prosecution agreement for Boeing in a case that is linked to two fatal accidents while the aircraft maker plead his earlier decision to owe guilty, according to people who are familiar with the issue.
American prosecutors and the families of the victims met on Friday to discuss the next steps to resolve the long -term case against Boeing, according to a person who is familiar with the issue.
The options include an agreement that would save the prosecution of Boeing, since it had made it clear that it would not argue, the person added. No final decision was made. The two parties could still go to court, with a date of 23 June still on the calendar.
If a non-preliminary resolution was reached, the families of the 346 victims who died in the 737 Max-Crashes would receive $ 444.5 million from the aircraft maker, another person who was familiar with the case.
Boeing and the Doj refused to comment.
The meeting between public prosecutors and the families of the victims marks the newest turn in years of legal proceedings that the families have often frustrated and at the same time increased the possibility of consequences for Boeing that can influence its activities, including business monitoring and a threat to protecting US government contracts.
Lawyers for the families of the victims showed indignation about the possible non-prosecution agreement.
“Although DOJ claims that no definitive decision has been made, their script presentation has made it clear that the outcome has already been decided,” said Applebaum, one of the lawyers who represent the families. “This is not justice. It is a back room agreement dressed as legal proceedings.”
Lawyers Paul Cassell and Bob Clifford said that the families would challenge every attempt by prosecutors to reject the case.
The case stems from crashes of new 737 Maxes five months apart in 2018 and 2019, as a result of which supervisors have ground the jet worldwide. The cause was reduced to fly control software that, if incorrectly activated, repeatedly forced the nose down the surface down.
Boeing agreed in July last year to owe one count of cheating the US government, for misleading air -rule providers about the software.
But Federal Judge drove O’Connor the plea in December on provisions regarding the hiring of a company monitor for the company needed to consider diversity, equity and inclusion in accepting. O’Connor also objected to parts of the deal that would have granted more powers officers to select the monitor than the court itself.
The Doj originally postponed the prosecution of Boeing in 2021 after he agreed to pay $ 2.5 billion. Officers of Justice agreed to resolve the case in three years if the company collaborated with officers of justice and prepared a compliance program.
But in January 2024, shortly before the charges were withdrawn, a 737 Max door flew during a commercial flight, which endangers passengers and crew and encourage prosecutors to push ahead.
After the incident, the DOJ Boeing reported that it had violated the deferred prosecution agreement that had been signed in 2021 and conditions that would lead to his guilty plea or a trial.