Plea agreements are the most common way to resolve federal criminal charges, with judges approving plea agreements in 98% of all federal criminal cases.

NPRVast Majority of Criminal Cases End in Plea Negotiations, New Report Says

That’s why Judge Reed O’Connor rejected a plea deal negotiated by Boeing lawyers and Justice Department lawyers that would have resulted in Boeing’s guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud charges related to the Boeing’s actions to deceive the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). before the fatal crashes of two Boeing 737 Max is so unusual. The plea deal would have called for Boeing to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy and pay a $487 million fine.

Justice O’Connor, in particular, had problems with two main aspects of the agreement, including the fact that the Justice Department rather than Justice O’Connor’s court would have the approval of a monitor to be appointed pursuant to the agreement. The judge’s concerns were amplified by the fact that an earlier plea deal that resulted in a postponement of the 2021 prosecution of Boeing on the same issues was not found to be particularly effective in light of a logjam. door detached in flight from an Alaska Airlines plane. 737 Max on January 5, 2024. At the time of the initial agreement to stay the prosecution, Boeing admitted that, as a cost-cutting measure, two of its employees misled the FAA about a new control function flight on the plane. 737 Max that, instead of requiring more intensive and costly flight simulator training for pilots, computer-based training would be sufficient.

The present conspiracy charges were brought in response to the Department of Justice’s determination that Boeing breached its obligations under its previous January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement for “failing to design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program aimed at preventing and detecting U.S. fraud violations.” laws throughout its operations.

JusticeUnited States v. The Boeing Company

In his rejection of the current plea agreement, Judge O’Connor noted, “the parties have agreed to the appointment of an independent monitor of compliance with the plea agreement.” Generally, the Comptroller will ensure that Boeing implements a program designed to prevent and detect violations of U.S. fraud laws, and that Boeing integrates this program throughout the company. The plea agreement provides that retaining an independent compliance monitor is a special condition of probation, meaning that if Boeing fails to retain the monitor it will violate his probation, but the plea agreement prohibits imposing as a condition of probation the requirement that Boeing comply with the monitor’s anti-fraud recommendations. Furthermore, the independent observer is chosen by the government and not by the Court. In addition, Boeing will have the possibility of preventing the hiring of one of the six monitor candidates chosen by the government.

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Justice O’Connor also highlighted concerns about the Justice Department’s diversity and inclusion policies that could affect the monitor’s choice. According to Judge O’Connor: “The Court is concerned by the Government’s changing and conflicting explanations of how the diversity and inclusion provision of the plea agreement will work in practice in this case. Although the government assures the Court that it will review all possible monitors (i.e. all backgrounds, etc.) but will choose a monitor based solely on merit and talent, the Court remains skeptical of this assertion.

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Judge O’Connor concluded that “the plea agreement process for selecting the anti-fraud monitor, including prohibiting the Court from reviewing violations of the monitor’s anti-fraud recommendations, unduly marginalizes the Court.” The government has been monitoring Boeing for three years now. It is unclear what Boeing did to violate the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”). The victims claim that “the government was forced to find that Boeing had violated (the DPA) after the door of the Alaska plane fell.” Boeing suggests it may have legitimate arguments to object to the government’s finding of a violation. Regardless, considering that Boeing violated the DPA, it is fair to say that the government’s attempt to ensure compliance failed.

According to Justice O’Connor, “it is fair to say that the government’s attempt to ensure compliance has failed.” “At this point, the public interest demands that the court intervene. Marginalizing the court in the selection and oversight of the independent monitor, as the plea agreement does, undermines public confidence in Boeing’s probation. “

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For Boeing and the Justice Department, it’s a matter of going back to the drawing board to try to reach an agreement that will satisfy Justice O’Connor, who gave them 30 days to brief him on how they plan to proceed.