The woman was released from U.S. custody on Friday under stringent pretrial conditions after being charged federally with stowing away on a flight from New York to Paris over the Thanksgiving holiday.
In Brooklyn federal court on Friday, Svetlana Dali, 57, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo, who issued a ruling requiring her to subject to GPS tracking, a curfew, and a ban from all airports while she awaits trial.
Dali was ordered by the judge to surrender his travel documents and to have a mental health assessment and therapy. Dali, a permanent resident of the United States, is also limited to the Eastern District of New York, where she faces one count of stowing away on a ship or airplane without permission, and the city of Philadelphia, where she will live with a church acquaintance.
She might be fined, imprisoned for up to five years, or both if found guilty. Dali hasn’t entered a plea yet.
The court expressed his serious concerns about Dali’s release during the hearing, pointing out that she could flee, that she had no community ties, and that he could not find a third-party custodian who would be legally liable for her adherence to the terms of her release.
During the hearing, Dali, who sat between her lawyer and a Russian interpreter, seemed to frown sometimes when the judge voiced his worries.
Brooklyn federal defense Michael Schneider, Dali’s lawyer, informed the court that she had no means of finding a third-party guardian because her family and fiancé were in Europe.
According to Schneider, Dali had no prior criminal history, posed no threat to the community, and posed no significant flight risk. Her offense was comparable to hopping a subway turnstile.
Echoing the judge’s concerns, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke Theodora stated that the government thought Dali posed a flight risk, citing multiple instances in which Dali tried to board aircraft covertly at both domestic and international airports.
Theodora claimed that as recently as February 2024, Dali made an attempt to travel for free at Miami International Airport by attempting to enter a secure section of the airport in order to access departures.
Theodora insisted on the bail requirements necessary to guarantee Dali’s attendance at upcoming court proceedings, stating that Dali’s activities posed extremely serious national security concerns and public security dangers.
Dali boarded a Delta flight on November 26 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport, per the FBI’s criminal complaint. According to the lawsuit, agents failed to stop her or request that she show her boarding pass because they were too busy assisting other passengers to board.
Before boarding the aircraft without a ticket, Dali evaded two security and ticketing checkpoints, according to a Transportation Security Administration official.
According to the accusation, Dali was arrested by French authorities upon her arrival in Paris. According to a top law enforcement source, Dali returned to the United States last week and was arrested in New York.
The FBI complaint claims that Dali was interviewed by authorities at JFK and acknowledged that she knew her actions were unlawful and that she had boarded the flight without a boarding ticket.
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