BP pays record US damages for Deepwater BP has pleaded guilty to criminal misconduct, including 11 felony charges and will pay a record US criminal penalty of 4.5 billion dollars after a plea bargain in the Deepwater Horizon case. The deal will end any future Federal BP prosecution, but it faces further charges of what the Department of Justice calls "reckless management...constituting gross negligence" in a civil case starting in February. If found guilty of gross negligence, it could nearly quadruple BP's civil damages. More about: BP, Oil spill, USA