The Justice Department has reached a deal with Boeing that will allow the airplane giant to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading U.S. regulators about the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court papers filed Friday.
Under the “agreement in principle,” which still needs to be finalized, Boeing would pay or invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million for the crash victims’ families, the Justice Department said.
In return, the department has agreed to dismiss the fraud charge against Boeing, allowing the manufacturer to avoid a possible criminal conviction that could have jeopardized the company’s status as a federal contractor, according to experts.
I don’t know if this is an editorial wording choice or not, but the Justice Department should not be “reaching deals” at all. There were real human beings leading Boeing making intentional choices that killed people, then they lied about it, orchestrated a campaign to hide evidence of those lies, and got caught. These fines should be in addition to those scumbag executives being behind bars, not in lieu of it.