The Department of Justice announced Sunday night that Boeing Co. will plead guilty to fraud charges stemming from the two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jetliner, after the government determined the company violated an agreement that had given it immunity from prosecution for more than three years.
Federal prosecutors this week gave Boeing the choice of pleading guilty and paying a fine as part of its punishment or standing trial on a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the United States.
Prosecutors accused the American aerospace giant of misleading regulators who approved the plane and its pilot training requirements.
The plea agreement, which must still be approved by a federal judge before it goes into effect, calls for Boeing to pay an additional $243.6 million in fines.
That was the same amount the company paid under a 2021 settlement that the Justice Department alleged the company had violated.
An independent monitor will be appointed to oversee Boeing’s safety and quality procedures for three years.
The plea agreement only covers Boeing’s misconduct before the crashes, which killed all 346 passengers and crew on board the two new MAX jets.
Justice Department officials said the ruling does not give Boeing immunity from liability for other accidents, such as the January crash when a panel blew off a Max jetliner during an Alaska Airlines flight.
The agreement also does not apply to current or former Boeing executives, only the company itself.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Boeing conspired to defraud the government by misleading regulators about flight-control systems involved in crashes in Indonesia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia less than five months later.
As part of a January 2021 settlement, the Department of Justice announced it would not prosecute Boeing for the crimes if the company complies with certain conditions for three years.
Prosecutors alleged last month that Boeing violated the terms of that agreement.
The company’s guilty plea is expected to be entered in U.S. District Court in Texas.
The judge overseeing the case, who has criticized what he called Boeing’s “egregious criminal conduct,” could choose to either accept the guilty plea and sentence offered by prosecutors or reject the agreement, which would likely lead to new negotiations between the Justice Department and Boeing.
The families of those killed in the crash were briefed on the plea offer a week ago and said at the time they intended to ask the judge to reject it.
U.S. government agencies can use criminal convictions as a basis to bar companies from doing business with the government for a certain period of time.
Boeing is a key contractor for the Department of Defense and NASA.
