In this article, the authors contend that federal prosecutors, when prosecuting conspiracies to defraud the government, would do well to not only consider potential victims outside the four corners of the conspiracy to defraud charged in the indictment, but should solicit their input before attempting to enter a plea agreement or negotiate a deferred prosecution agreement. The authors also offer steps that practitioners should take when considering victims’ rights issues under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.

In United States v. Boeing Company, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas considered whether individuals who lost family members in 737 Max plane crashes were “crime victims” under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA). The victims lost their family members in two fatal plane crashes as a result of Boeing’s admitted conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the new 737 Max.

Originally published in the August 2023 edition of Pratt’s Government Contracting Law Report.