Boeing may evade criminal charges for violating settlement

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is considering allowing Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution for violating the terms of a 2021 settlement related to problems with the company’s 737 Max 8 model that led to two deadly plane crashes in 2018 and 2019, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The department is expected to make a decision on the case by the end of the month. Prosecutors have not made a final call nor have they ruled out bringing charges against Boeing or negotiating a possible plea deal in which the company admits some culpability, the people said.

It is possible that any negotiated resolution would include the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the company’s safety protocols.

Offering Boeing what is known as a deferred prosecution agreement, which is often used to impose monitoring and compliance obligations on businesses accused of financial crimes or corruption, as opposed to trying to convict the company, would avoid the uncertainties of a criminal trial.

But it would anger families of passengers killed in recent crashes who want to see the company pay for its safety lapses. And while prosecutors are considering a new agreement, they recently told the families they had not ruled out bringing charges, according to a person briefed on the exchange.

Federal prosecutors said in May that Boeing had violated a previous deferred prosecution agreement by failing to set up and maintain a program to detect and prevent violations of U.S. anti-fraud laws. The settlement was reached in 2021, after Boeing admitted in court that two of its employees had misled federal air safety regulators about a part that was at fault in the two crashes.

The violation of that settlement allowed the Justice Department to file criminal charges. But some department officials have expressed concern that bringing criminal charges against Boeing would be too legally risky. Officials see the appointment of an independent watchdog as a quicker, more efficient way to ensure that the troubled company improves safety, manufacturing and quality control procedures.

A new deferred prosecution agreement would allow the Justice Department to resolve Boeing’s violation without risking a guilty verdict that could harm one of the country’s most economically important companies.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.