BP will face spill victims in guilty plea hearing

BP is preparing for an emotional hearing Tuesday in a New Orleans courtroom, where company officials will face victims of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico rig explosion and oil spill in front of a judge who will decide whether to accept a criminal plea deal, The Houston Chronicle reports. U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance plans to announce her decision after hearing from lawyers for BP and the Justice Department, spill victims, and relatives of some of the 11 men who were killed when the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank. If Vance accepts BP’s agreement to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges, including manslaughter and obstruction of Congress, she will impose the sentence the company negotiated with the U.S. government: a $4 billion criminal penalty, five years’ probation and independent monitoring. If she rejects the deal, Vance will allow BP to withdraw its guilty plea and go to trial. The prospect of a trial, which could result in tougher penalties, would create more uncertainty for BP, whose lawyers have spent nearly three years trying to resolve the company’s legal liability for the disaster. As of Friday, 30 people had submitted emotional statements expressing how the disaster has affected their lives. Some want Vance to reject BP’s deal. Others have asked the judge to impose a harsher penalty. The full story can be found here.