U.S. judge rejects family members’ bid to reopen Boeing 737 Max plea deal

A U.S. judge in Texas late on Thursday denied a legal bid by families of the victims of two Boeing 737 MAX crashes to reopen or reject a January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.
Boeing won immunity from criminal prosecution as part of the $2.5 billion Justice Department agreement over a 737 MAX fraud conspiracy charge related to the plane’s flawed design.
The families had asked the court to strip Boeing of immunity from prosecution, toss out, revise or supervise the agreement and order disclosure of information about Boeing’s conduct.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled he did not have legal authority to grant the relatives’ requests despite what he called “Boeing’s egregious criminal conduct.”
O’Connor ruled in October the 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 are legally “crime victims” and said the Justice Department had not complied with its obligations under the law.