Woman who sneaked onto Delta flight to Paris convicted of being a stowaway

Svetlana Dali was convicted this week of being a stowaway after she successfully sneaked through security at John F. Kennedy International Airport and onto a Delta flight to Paris.

Dali went to the New York airport on Nov. 26 and, after being turned away by the Transportation Security Administration for not having a boarding pass, mixed in with a group of Air Europe employees to go through security. Video footage shows her walking close behind a group of passengers to then get onto a Delta Air Lines flight to Paris.

Dali was found guilty and convicted of stowing away in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Thursday after repeatedly interrupting the proceedings and asking to personally question witnesses, according to The New York Times.

She faces up to six months in prison, based on federal sentencing guidelines.

The Russian national and U.S. resident had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Her successful sneaking was not the first time Dali had tried to get onto a plane without a boarding pass last year. Prosecutors said she also tried it in Miami and at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, the latter attempt taking place just days before she flew from New York to Paris.

On the flight to Paris, Dali told a flight attendant that she was seeking asylum in France because the U.S. and Russian governments were both trying to poison her with the radioactive element polonium, according to the New York Post.