Stowaway Discovered Responsible of Hiding on Flight to Paris Faces As much as 6 Months Jail

A girl who stowed away in the bathrooms of a Delta Airlines flight from New York Metropolis to Paris in November 2024 has been convicted of a federal stowaway cost.

Jurors decided in a Brooklyn court docket on Thursday, Could 22 that Svetlana Dali, 57, was responsible of slipping previous safety and airline gate brokers at John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport in N.Y.C. and boarding a Delta flight to Charles de Gaulle Airport in France on Nov. 26 and not using a ticket, in keeping with NBC News, ABC News and Associated Press. 

Dali — who has been in custody for greater than 5 months — might withstand six months in jail, in keeping with sentencing pointers, per the retailers. The choose presiding over the trial has not but set a sentencing date.

Dali’s lawyer, Michael Schneider, didn’t instantly reply to PEOPLE’s request for remark.

The 57-year-old’s trial lasted about two days with jury choice and opening statements having been made on Tuesday, Could 20. Dali, who’s a Russian citizen with U.S. residency testified a day later that she had gone to “the place the individuals have been boarding the flights,” after which she “simply walked into the airplane,” in keeping with ABC Information.

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She mentioned airline workers didn’t ask her for a boarding move and admitted that she didn’t have one, per the outlet. Surveillance video proven through the trial confirmed Dali mixing in with a bunch of airline passengers and strolling previous Delta Airways staffers checking tickets, per AP.  She then mentioned, per NBC Information and ABC Information, that she stayed within the toilet “nearly the period of the flight, nearly from the start to the top” as a result of she felt sick.

Prosecutors cited charging paperwork in court docket, saying Dali initially did not get by means of a TSA safety checkpoint round 8:24 p.m. on the day of the flight as a result of she didn’t have a boarding move, however efficiently made it by means of a couple of minutes later through “a particular lane for airline workers masked by a big Air Europa flight crew.”

After being screened, Dali boarded the flight round 10:03 p.m. whereas Delta brokers have been “busy serving to ticketed passengers board,” in keeping with court docket paperwork. The airplane departed round 10:37 p.m., however earlier than touchdown in Paris, she was found by the flight crew, who “notified French legislation enforcement” after she could not present a boarding move.

Authorities in France then met her on the gate at Charles de Gaulle Airport on Nov. 27, the place she was “detained earlier than she entered customs.” In response to the grievance, Dali flew again to New York on Dec. 4 and was “escorted” to an interview room earlier than admitting to “flying as a stowaway.”

Prosecutors mentioned, per NBC Information, that Dali was initially launched from custody with an electrical monitoring system, however she was detained once more after allegedly reducing it off and trying to enter Canada. 

Additionally they famous that she had tried to bypass safety measures at two different airports previous to this incident, together with at Bradley Worldwide Airport close to Hartford, Conn., however was unsuccessful at getting on a airplane and finally left the airport, the outlet reported. 

TSA Administrator David Pekoske informed NBC Information in December that Dali was “screened,” and that bypassing safety checkpoints was “not that simple” and “hardly ever occurs.” He added that she was making an attempt to evade checkpoints throughout an “extremely busy day” of Thanksgiving journey.

A TSA spokesperson informed ABC Information that in gentle of the incident, “extra safety measures are actually in place.” The spokesperson added, “TSA’s safety measures are all the time evolving to make sure this kind of incident doesn’t occur once more.”