A federal judge in Texas has set a June trial date for the U.S. government's years-old conspiracy case against Beoing for misleading regulators about r the 737 Max jetliner before two of the planes crashed, killing 346 people.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor did not explain in the scheduling order he issued on Tuesday why he decided to set the case for trial. Lawyers for the aerospace company and the Justice Department have spent months trying to renegotiate a July 2024 plea agreement that called for Boeing to plead guilty to a single felony charge.
The judge rejected that deal in December, saying that diversity, inclusion and equity policies the Justice Department had in place at the time might influence the selection of a monitor to oversee the company’s compliance with the terms of its proposed sentence.
Since then, O'Connor had three times extended the deadline for the two sides to report how they planned to proceed. His most recent extension, granted earlier this month, gave them until April 11, but the judge revoked the remaining time with his Tuesday order.
The Associated Press
