From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishplea bargainingˈplea ˌbargaining noun [uncountable] SCLwhen someone agrees to admit in court that they are guilty of one crime, in exchange for not being charged with a more serious crime —plea bargain verb [intransitive, transitive] —plea bargain noun [countable]
Examples from the Corpus
plea bargaining• But they say methods such as plea bargaining help to stop the courts becoming congested.• The system in Britain is not as dominated by plea bargaining, but it is certainly present.• The general sentiment among lawyers is that the Commission is likely to favour plea bargaining if sufficient safeguards can be built in.• A classic case of plea bargaining. 