Report: Boeing asks Trump admin to weaken penalties in 737 Max crash case
Boeing plea deal opposed by victims' families might be made even weaker.
Boeing is trying to withdraw a plea agreement and obtain more lenient treatment from the Trump administration in a case involving two deadly 737 Max crashes, The Wall Street Journal reported today.
Boeing previously agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Boeing could still plead guilty but face weaker penalties than it agreed to last year if the Justice Department and a federal judge agree.
Trump's Department of Justice "is reviewing numerous pending criminal cases that haven't yet gone to trial or been approved by courts," and "Boeing stands to benefit from fresh eyes at Trump's Justice Department, which is inclined to at least modify parts of the agreement," the WSJ wrote, citing people familiar with the matter. "Allowing Boeing to rescind its plea agreement, or lightening the company's punishment, would mark one of the most prominent examples of the Trump administration's lighter-touch approach to some white-collar enforcement."
