Article: BP, prosecutors criticized for plea deal related to deadly blast

A $50 million (35 million) fine being proposed as criminal punishment for British company BP PLC's deadly 2005 plant explosion is insufficient and simply "part of the ordinary cost of doing business" for the company, attorneys for victims of the accident said in court documents.

Federal prosecutors who brokered the plea agreement with the London-based oil giant were also criticized by victims' attorneys in the documents Wednesday.

"The Government was unduly and unnecessarily generous in these negotiations ... only a very substantial penalty well in excess of $50 million would send the message to BP ... that laws of the United States of America are designed ...

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