Judge Throws Out Boeing Plea Deal Opposed by Families

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a deal that would have allowed Boeing to plead guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and pay a fine for misleading US regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people. The ruling by US District Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas creates uncertainty around the criminal prosecution of the aerospace giant in connection with the development of its bestselling airliner. Boeing and the Justice Department could negotiate a new plea agreement, the AP reports. Paul Cassell, an attorney for families of passengers who died in the crashes, called the ruling an important victory for the rights of crime victims.

"No longer can federal prosecutors and high-powered defense attorneys craft backroom deals and just expect judges to approve them," Cassell said. "Judge O'Connor has recognized that this was a cozy deal between the government and Boeing that failed to focus on the overriding concerns—holding Boeing accountable for its deadly crime and ensuring that nothing like this happens again in the future." Many relatives of the passengers who died in the crashes, which took place off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart, have spent years pushing for a public trial, the prosecution of former company officials, and more severe financial punishment for Boeing.

The deal the judge rejected would have let Boeing plead guilty to defrauding regulators who approved pilot training requirements for the 737 Max nearly a decade ago. Prosecutors did not allege Boeing's deception played a role in the crashes, per the AP. At an Oct. 11 hearing, Boeing lawyer Ben Hatch defended the plea deal, saying the company "is a pillar of the national economy and the national defense" and needed to know its punishment before agreeing to plead guilty. The lawyer's argument stunned relatives of the victims who were in the courtroom. "Boeing is too important for the economy—they're too big to jail. That's what he's saying," said Michael Stumo, whose daughter Samya died in the second crash. "It allows them to kill people with no consequences because they're too big and because their shareholders won't like it."

(More Boeing stories.)