By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Two U.S. senators called on the Justice Department on Friday to prosecute Boeing in a criminal fraud case stemming from two fatal 737 MAX crashes, and to reject a tentative deal that would allow the planemaker to avoid pleading guilty.

"DOJ must not sign a non-prosecution agreement with Boeing that would allow the company to weasel its way out of accountability for its failed corporate culture, and for any illegal behavior that has resulted in deadly consequences,” wrote Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal.

"Any deal between DOJ and Boeing that would allow the company and its executives to avoid accountability would be a serious mistake."

Boeing and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Paul Cassell, a lawyer for some of the families of the 346 people killed in two 737 MAX crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019, said on Thursday that allowing Boeing to avoid a trial or guilty plea would be a miscarriage of justice.

Cassell added that the government's proposal would effectively allow Boeing to become its own probation officer by allowing it to avoid an independent monitor.

The department outlined the tentative deal on May 16.

The agreement would forestall a June 23 trial the planemaker faces on a fraud charge it misled the Federal Aviation Administration about a crucial flight control system on the 737 MAX, its best-selling jet.

Boeing agreed last July to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge after the two fatal 737 MAX crashes and to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million.

But Boeing has no longer agreed to plead guilty in the case, prosecutors told family members of crash victims during a meeting last week. The company's stance changed after a judge rejected a previous plea agreement in December, prosecutors told the family members.

The Justice Department told families that Boeing would be asked to pay an additional $444.5 million into a crash victims’ fund divided evenly per crash victim, lawyers for the families said, on top of $500 million Boeing paid in 2021.

Boeing has faced enhanced scrutiny from the FAA since January 2024, when a new Alaska Airlines MAX 9 missing four key bolts suffered a mid-air emergency losing a door plug near Portland, Oregon.

The FAA has capped production at 38 planes per month.

(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Mark Porter and Frances Kerry)

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