Boeing Could Face Criminal Prosecution Over 737 MAX Crashes: Justice Department

The Justice Department will decide by July 7 whether it will prosecute Boeing after the company violated a 2021 settlement with the U.S. government.

The logo for Boeing on a screen above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on July 13, 2021. Richard Drew/AP

The U.S. Department of Justice determined on May 14 that Boeing violated a deferred prosecution agreement that allowed the aerospace company to evade criminal charges after two crashes of its 737 MAX jet that killed everyone on board.

Justice Department prosecutors delivered the news to a federal judge on May 14 after hosting an April 24 closed-door meeting with the families of the victims of the 2018 and 2019 crashes. The agency now has until July 7 to decide whether it will file criminal charges against Boeing, during which time it will tell the court how it plans to proceed, according to the Justice Department.