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Case 1:20-cr-00330-AJN Document 142 Filed 02/04/21 Page 21 of 38
Contrary to the government’s position here, courts applying these traditional contract
principles to non-prosecution agreements have recognized that third parties who claim immunity
in such agreements have standing to enforce their rights as third-party beneficiaries, even where
they have not been expressly named in the non-prosecution agreement. See, e.g., United States
v. CFW Const. Co., 583 F. Supp. 197, 203 (D.S.C.) (“an intended third party beneficiary of a
contract may enforce its provisions as against the promisor .. . . if the Government, in
negotiating the aforementioned plea agreements, ‘promised’ that there would be no prosecution
against [the third party] for antitrust violations arising in any jurisdiction, the promise must be
enforced”) (emphasis in original), aff'd, 749 F.2d 33 (4th Cir. 1984).
Two cases in particular illustrate the infirmity in the government’s argument. In United
States v. Florida West Int’l Airways, Inc., 853 F. Supp. 2d 1209 (S.D. Fla. 2012), the
government, following a plea agreement with a foreign air cargo provider that immunized certain
classes of the provider’s employees and related corporations, indicted a U.S. airline and an
individual, both of whom asserted that they were within the scope of employees and corporations
covered by the plea agreement. /d. at 1215-16. Following a two-day evidentiary hearing, the
court concluded that only the individual was covered by the plea agreement, but flatly rejected
the proposition that either party lacked standing to invoke the plea agreement if covered by it—
even though the parties were not identified in the plea agreement by name. /d. at 1228-29.
Applying Florida law, the court held that “the signatory parties unmistakably intended to confer
immunity on a discrete class of corporations and individuals . . . that could include the
Defendants.” /d. at 1228. The court added:
The plea agreement unquestionably conferred a direct benefit on a class of
individuals: immunity. Moreover, the Plea Agreement evinced an intent to
extend this benefit to a definable class of third parties: employees of [the cargo
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| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00002593.jpg |
| File Size | 728.7 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.4% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,209 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:25:11.698272 |