'Serial Stowaway' Unfit To Stand Trial: Judge

CHICAGO, IL — Marilyn Hartman, the 66-year-old woman who has earned a reputation as a serial stowaway aboard commercial airline flights, was determined unfit to stand trial by a Cook County judge Thursday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Lawyers revealed during a hearing for Hartman on Thursday that two psychologists had given her mental health evaluations to reach that conclusion, the report added.

Judge Maura Slattery Boyle ordered Hartman to be sent to an Elgin mental health facility after hearing arguments from both sides, the report stated. She took a brief recess before handing down her decision, the report added.

Hartman's evaluations described her as intelligent and as understandng the charges, but she has dellusions and is focused on receiveing media attention, the report stated. A prosecution psychologist said at the hearing that Hartman's mental stability fluctuates, the report added.

RELATED: Serial Stowaway: How She Evaded Airport Security

Hartman has been jailed without bond since Feb. 7 after she continued to defy a judge who told her in January to stay away from Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway airports. She was arrested Jan. 28 at O'Hare for allegedly causing a disturbance at the airport, just three days after she agreed to a judge's order to stay away from the facility. The ban was a stipulation of her release after Hartman allegedly snuck past security and on to a British Airways flight to London on Jan. 15.

Because she wasn't a danger to the public, Hartman's Cook County public defender requested on that her client be electronically monitored and sent to stay at facility run by a nonprofit group that finds housing for homeless former inmates. Hartman had been staying at a nursing facility in Grayslake in Lake County before her arrest in the Jan. 15 incident.

RELATED: 'Serial Stowaway' Kept Behind Bars After Latest Arrest

But Judge Donald Panarese Jr. said he didn't believe the new suggested shelter would stop Hartman from defying his orders again. During a Jan. 25 hearing, Panarese told Hartman three times she was not to step foot in either of Chicago's airports while her case went through the courts, a restriction she promised to adhere to it at the time.

Along with being ordered to remain in custody , Hartman also was formally indicted on felony charges stemming from last month's inciting incident. A psychiatric evaluation already was order for Hartman, who has a long history eluding airport security in order to illegally board commercial airline flights.

RELATED: 'Serial Stowaway' Arrested At O'Hare Airport. Again

Parle Roe-Taylor, Hartman's public defender, doesn't think her client should be behind bars.

"She is not violent, she's not demonstrated to be a harm to herself," Roe-Taylor told WGN-TV. " There is no reason to take her out of society."

RELATED: Hartman Banned From O'Hare, Midway Airports

Over the past few years, she has faced charges in similar incidents in Chicago and Jacksonville, Florida, as well as the West Coast.

More via the Chicago Sun-Times and WGN-TV

Marilyn Hartman, 66 (Photo via Chicago Police Department)