05:57 AM EDT, 05/30/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The US Justice Department asked a judge to dismiss a criminal fraud charge against Boeing ( BA ) over two fatal 737 MAX crashes in favor of an expanded civil settlement, news outlets reported Thursday, citing the company and the prosecutors.

Under the deal, Boeing ( BA ) avoids criminal conviction which could complicate its access to government contracts but instead will pay an additional $444.5 million on top of the $243.6 million in previous fines to families of the 346 people killed in the crashes, Reuters report.

Boeing ( BA ) will pay $1.1 billion in total, including $455 million to upgrade the company's safety programs, Reuters cited the Justice Department as saying.

The government said the settlement, which Boeing ( BA ) reportedly signed Thursday, "secures meaningful accountability, delivers substantial and immediate public benefits, and brings finality to a difficult and complex case whose outcome would otherwise be uncertain," Reuters reported.

The Justice Department and Boeing ( BA ) did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' request for comment.