A decision to not pursue a guilty plea from Boeing would be the latest about-face in a long effort to hold the plane maker accountable for the crashes of two 737 Max jets.
After years of legal wrangling, Boeing may avoid criminal responsibility for its role in a pair of deadly 737 Max crashes.
In a call on Friday with the families of some of the 346 people who died in the crashes, Justice Department officials said they were entertaining a deal in which Boeing would agree to some concessions, including paying into a victims fund, but walk away without having to plead guilty to any charges, according to lawyers for the families.
The lawyers described the deal as deeply disappointing and said that they would fight it in court if the department moves ahead with it.
“While D.O.J. claims no final decision has been made, their scripted presentation made it clear that the outcome has already been decided,” Erin R. Applebaum, a lawyer at Kreindler & Kreindler, a firm that represents 34 families who lost loved ones in one of the crashes, said in a statement. “This isn’t justice. It’s a backroom deal dressed up as a legal proceeding, and it sends a dangerous message: In America, the rich and powerful can buy their way out of accountability.”
The Justice Department and Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The agreement that the officials laid out would represent the latest about-face in a yearslong effort to hold Boeing accountable for two of the deadliest plane crashes in recent history.
Last summer, prosecutors and Boeing had reached a deal in which the company agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the federal government. But that agreement has been under renegotiation in recent months, and Justice Department officials told families that Boeing has refused to plead guilty.
