Boeing is seeking to withdraw its guilty plea related to a criminal fraud charge following two deadly 737 Max crashes six years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Citing “people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal reported that the aerospace manufacturer is hoping to benefit from “more lenient treatment” from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

After the crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed a total of 346 people, the Justice Department accused Boeing of intentionally misleading safety regulators about a new software system on the Max. An error with that system — the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS — caused the two fatal accidents.

In 2021, Boeing and the Justice Department entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that would have allowed the company to avoid a criminal conviction or guilty plea if it met certain conditions over the next three years. Days before that agreement expired, a panel blew off a 737 Max plane midflight, leading to fresh concerns about Boeing’s quality and manufacturing processes.

The Justice Department determined in May that Boeing had violated the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, leading to Boeing’s guilty plea in July.

The company and the Justice Department are still hammering out the details of what comes next.

In December, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor rejected a plea deal proposed by both parties. That deal would have required Boeing to pay a $244 million fine, commit $455 million to improve compliance, quality and safety programs and hire an independent monitor to oversee its processes.

O’Connor rejected the deal in part because the government said it would consider diversity when selecting an independent monitor.

“These provisions are inappropriate and against the public interest,” he wrote in the ruling.

Now, as Boeing reportedly prepares to withdraw the plea agreement, it seeks to forgo the independent monitor altogether, according to The Wall Street Journal.

That monitor was one of the few things that set the plea deal apart from the earlier deferred prosecution agreement, and something that the families who lost loved ones in the crashes had been hoping to see.

As of Monday afternoon, the court docket did not include any formal notice to withdraw the guilty plea from Boeing or the DOJ.

Boeing declined to comment on Monday and referred questions to the Justice Department. The department could not be reached for comment.

Mark Lindquist, an attorney in Tacoma who is representing some of the victims’ families, said he found it hard to believe the Justice Department would “let Boeing off the hook.”

Because the legal standard to withdraw a guilty plea is so high, he thought Boeing was instead seeking to craft a new stipulation with the Justice Department, similar to the 2021 agreement.

“They’re looking for the Department of Justice to cooperate, rather than oppose, whatever it is they have in mind,” Lindquist said.

Peter Reilly, a law professor at Texas A&M who is also representing some of the victims’ families, agreed that it would be a tall ask to withdraw the guilty plea.

No matter what, the original criminal fraud charge is still there, Reilly said. That leaves the Justice Department with two options: make another plea deal or ask the court to dismiss the charge.

“It’s hard for me to think O’Connor would say ‘Sure, you can dismiss it and now you don’t have to have a monitor,’” Reilly said. But, “in the background, we have to remember Boeing is one of the most powerful companies on the planet. All the rules might be thrown out when it comes to Boeing.”

A criminal conviction would make it harder for Boeing to secure government contracts, though most industry experts said they didn’t expect it to have much impact because the government relies on the aerospace manufacturer. Just last week, Boeing won a contract over Lockheed Martin to build the U.S. Air Force’s future fighter jet.

The victims’ families have pushed through this whole process for the Justice Department to do more to hold Boeing accountable, even arguing that the plea deal proposed earlier this year is too lenient.

They said it allowed Boeing too much input into the selection of the independent monitor, including the ability for the company to strike one of the candidates from the running.

Now, Lindquist said, Boeing has taken another step to evade accountability.

“Part of what is galling about this is Boeing got their sweetheart deal” in 2021, he said. “They blew the deal. Now they want an even sweeter deal.”

Earlier this month, O’Connor set an April 11 deadline for Boeing and the Justice Department to provide an “update on how they plan to proceed.”

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