NEW ORLEANS — BP reached a settlement today with the federal government to pay $4.5 billion for the 2010 oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

This settlement is considered a record for a criminal penalty in the U.S. The largest previous corporate criminal penalty was imposed on Prizer in 2009 by the Department of Justice. That settlement was reached at $1.2 billion.

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and set off a spill which continued for 87 days.