Boeing will shell out more than $1 billion but avoided prosecution over two crashes involving its 737 Max planes that killed 346 people, the Justice Department said Friday The non-prosecution agreement allows the aerospace giant to avoid being branded a convicted felon and was harshly criticized by many families who lost relatives in the crashes and had pressed prosecutors to take the Boeing the planemaker to trial.

The families of the victims sought a public trial to prosecute executives and inflict steep financial penalties on Boeing.