A woman who boarded a plane in New York without a ticket during the Thanksgiving holiday and was detained upon arrival in Paris has been charged with stowaway, authorities said.
Svetlana Dali appeared in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon for her arraignment. She arrived limping and appeared to be in pain, but then sat between Brooklyn Federal Defenders attorney Michael Schneider and a Russian interpreter.
Her lawyer said her actions were akin to jumping through a turnstile or stealing a service, adding that she passed through a metal detector at airport security.
If convicted, Dali could face up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.
She did not enter a plea Thursday because the charges were brought about by a complaint from the FBI. This means that the defendant will not plead one way or the other at his first court appearance, but will do so only after he is formally indicted by a grand jury.
Dalli is scheduled to appear in court on Friday after his defense and the government agreed to a temporary detention order to arrange bail and establish his address.
Schneider said Dali is a permanent resident of the United States and authorities are looking for her Pennsylvania address.
Her attorney also said they believe her life is in danger if Dali remains held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
From New York to Paris without a ticket
According to an FBI criminal complaint, Dali boarded Delta Air Lines Flight 264 on Nov. 26 en route from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport.
A Transportation Security Administration spokesperson said in a statement last week that she bypassed two security checkpoints and a ticketing checkpoint before boarding the plane without a ticket. A spokeswoman said she completed a full security screening before boarding the flight, did not have any prohibited items and did not pose a security threat.
According to the FBI complaint, Dali arrived at JFK Airport at 8:13 p.m.
At 8:24 p.m., she tried to enter the security line but was turned away by TSA agents because she did not present her boarding pass, according to the complaint. Five minutes later, she managed to enter the security line through a special lane reserved for airline employees, “under cover of a large group of Air Europa crew members.”
According to the FBI complaint, Dali boarded the Delta flight at 10:03 p.m.
“Delta employees were busy helping the ticketed passenger board the plane, but did not stop her or ask for her boarding pass,” the complaint states.
The flight took off for Paris at 10:37 p.m., but before landing, Delta employees realized she wasn’t supposed to be there, according to the FBI complaint. They asked Dali for her boarding pass, but she was unable to provide one, so they reported the situation to French police.
According to the FBI’s complaint, French authorities detained Dali when the plane landed in Paris, and French border police said he was ultimately denied entry because he did not have valid travel documents or visas. the spokesperson said.
She was then removed from a flight back to the United States on Sunday for causing a disturbance.
Dali returned to the United States on a Delta flight on Wednesday and was taken into custody in New York, a senior law enforcement official said.
According to the FBI’s complaint, agents interviewed Dali at JFK Airport, where he admitted to boarding the plane without a boarding pass. She also told investigators she knew her actions were illegal, according to the complaint.
“Among other things, she stated that she did not have a ticket and intentionally avoided TSA and Delta Air Lines employees so she could travel without buying a ticket. boarding pass, including that he was looking for an opportunity to evade them when he knew he was,” the complaint states.
Airport security evasion is ‘a rare occurrence’
TSA Administrator David Pekoske said Dali “evaded many levels of security” at JFK Airport, but “I want to emphasize that she was screened.”
Still, bypassing security checkpoints is “not that easy” and “rarely happens,” Pekoske said.
He said security camera footage showed it was “obvious” that she was trying to evade security on Nov. 26, during the height of the Thanksgiving travel rush, an “incredibly busy day.” ”.
