NEW YORK — Prosecutors and a lawyer for a woman charged with sneaking aboard a New York-to-Paris flight said Wednesday they’ll try to work out a plea deal for her.
In the meantime, Svetlana Dali pleaded not guilty to a stowaway charge and was ordered held without bail. After her arrest late last year, the 57-year-old was initially released with electronic monitoring. She was rearrested Dec. 16 after authorities said she cut off the monitoring device and tried to enter Canada.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke Theodora told a New York federal court that prosecutors hope to “engage seriously in plea negotiations” regarding Dali. Her attorney, Michael Schneider, said he’d participate in those discussions and “try to take care of this case prior to a trial.”
He said he also aimed to get an evaluation of Dali’s mental health.
Dali, an unemployed Russian citizen with U.S. residency, was found aboard a Nov. 26 Delta Air Lines flight as it headed from New York’s JFK International Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. According to court documents, she managed to get through security and on the plane without a boarding pass.
Dali was one of two stowaways who were arrested on different flights from U.S. destinations in November and December. And twice within the last month, people have been found dead in airplane wheel wells at U.S. airports.
The discoveries have stirred concerns about aviation security gaps, which federal regulators, airlines and airports say they’re trying to plug.