The Trump administration plans to abandon a felony criminal charge against Boeing and instead pursue a non-prosecutorial settlement with the aircraft-making juggernaut over two fatal 737 Max plane crashes that killed 346 people, according to the victims' families.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) hasn't publicly announced a decision and didn't immediately respond to The Hill's requests for comment and additional information.

But the families of the people who died in the crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019 are sounding alarms after they were notified in a meeting with DOJ representatives Friday morning of a "tentative" agreement. The families said they were told a final decision hasn’t been made.

"The Justice Department’s Criminal Division held a 'conferral session' but didn't truly confer at all," Paul Cassell, an attorney for many of the families in this case, said in a statement. "Instead, they conveyed their preconceived idea that Boeing should be allowed to escape any real consequences for its deadly lies."

"We hope that this bizarre plan will be rejected by the leadership of the Department," he added.

Boeing had been negotiating a guilty plea with the DOJ ahead of a June 23 trial date over a fraud charge for allegedly misleading regulators about flaws in the 737 Max flight system.

The families had urged the DOJ to take the case to trial after a federal judge rejected a proposed agreement last year that would have allowed the company to plead guilty and pay a fine.

Cassell said the families "will strenuously object" to the latest proposal in court if it allows Boeing to escape criminal penalties.

"Dismissing the case would dishonor the memories of 346 victims, who Boeing killed through its callous lies," he said.

Robert A. Clifford, attorney for the victims' families in a pending civil case who was also present for the DOJ meeting, said the government has a strong case to take to court.

"These families are willing to take the risks that their government apparently is unwilling to take to hold these criminals responsible," he said. "We are offended by this deal, and we will challenge this."

According to a Reuters report, the new arrangement would allow Boeing to avoid being branded a convicted felon, which could have stymied the American aerospace giant from competing for government contracts with the Department of Defense (DOD) or NASA.

The reported plans to dismiss criminal charges comes just days after Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg joined President Trump on his Middle East trip this week. Trump was present when Boeing inked a deal with Qatar Airways for 160 jets — the largest widebody aircraft order in the company's history.

"Get those planes out there. Get them out there," Trump said after Ortberg and Qatar Airways CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer signed the agreement.

The Trump administration's trade deal with the United Kingdom that was announced this earlier month included a $10 billion order for Boeing jets from the parent company of British Airways.

Boeing didn't respond to The Hill's request for comment on the latest 737 Max crash case update.

According to the victim's lawyers, the DOJ representatives conveyed that Boeing is no longer interested in a criminal guilty plea but would be asked to pay $444.5 million more into a crash victims’ fund that would be divided evenly per crash victim if the case is settled.  While they were told that negotiations are ongoing, Cassell said he believes that the decision is a "prearranged conclusion" that "clearly is not in the public’s best interest."