FILE-Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun arrives as family members of those killed in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610 crashes hold up photographs of their loved ones before a Senate Subcommittee hearing on June 18, 2024 in Washington, D …
Families who lost relatives in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners could get their final opportunity to push for Boeing to face criminal prosecution.
A federal judge in Texas will hear arguments on Wednesday regarding a federal government motion to dismiss a felony charge against Boeing.
In May, the Justice Department and Boeing had a non-prosecution agreement with both parties stating that the federal government would dismiss the charge if Boeing paid or invested another $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the plane crash victims' families, and internal safety guidelines.
Why was Boeing charged?
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Prosecutors charged Boeing with conspiracy to commit fraud related to plane crashes that killed 346 passengers off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia.
The Associated Press reported that federal prosecutors accused Boeing of deceiving government regulators about a flight-control system that was later linked to the deadly flights, which happened less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019.
RELATED: Boeing pleads not guilty to criminal charge related to deadly 737 Max jet crashes
Boeing plead guilty instead of going to trial. However, U.S. District Chief Judge Reed O’Connor rebuffed the aircraft manufacturer’s plea agreement in December 2024.
Attorneys representing relatives of some of the family members of the plane crash victims supported O’Connor’s decision with the belief that it would help their goal of seeing former Boeing executives prosecuted during a public trial and more serious financial punishment for the company.
But the AP noted that the judge’s refusal to accept the agreement meant Boeing could challenge the Justice Department’s reason for charging Boeing as a corporation. And this also meant prosecutors would have to work on a new deal for a guilty plea.
According to the AP, Judge O'Connor invited some of the families to speak to the court on Wednesday. According to the AP, one of the individuals who plans to speak is Catherine Berthet, whose daughter, Camille Geoffrey, died at age 28 when a 737 Max crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia's Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by previous LIVENOW from FOX reporting and the Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.