The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people, after the U.S. Justice Department determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years. An Associated Press dispatch to The Globe says that U.S. prosecutors gave Boeing the choice last week of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine as part of its sentence or facing a trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Prosecutors accused the American aerospace giant of deceiving regulators who approved the airplane and pilot-training requirements for it. The plea deal announced late Sunday, which still must receive the approval of a federal judge to take effect, calls for Boeing to pay an additional $243.6-million (U.S.) fine. That was the same amount it paid under the 2021 settlement that the Justice Department said the company breached. An independent monitor would be named to oversee Boeing's safety and quality procedures for three years. The deal also requires Boeing to invest at least $455-million (U.S.) in its compliance and safety programs.