A federal judge on Thursday rejected a plea deal between Boeing and the Justice Department, after they agreed to plead guilty to a fraud charge and pay more than $243 million to resolve cases linked to two fatal plane crashes, which killed a total of 346 people in 2018/2019.

According to court filings, Judge Reed O’Connor rejected Boeing’s plea agreement, citing criticism from victims’ family members that Boeing’s deal to have an independent monitor oversee its compliance and safety programs was a “sweetheart deal”. The Judge has given both Boeing and the Justice Department 30 days to update the court on how they plan to proceed in the case.

Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge in July and pay a fine of $243.6 million, as well as invest about $455 million in compliance and safety programs and implement a third-party monitor to track the company’s compliance with regulations. O’Connor argued that the agreement had improperly required prosecutors to consider diversity and inclusion when selecting the monitor, a consideration that minimized the position’s role, stating “these provisions are inappropriate and against the public interest.” O’Connor also disagreed with the monitor answering to the Justice Department rather than the court, saying the provision would “erroneously marginalize” the court.

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