Originally Posted by
LegalTender
No federal code violation was alleged by Southwest. MDTA charges are (were) disorderly conduct, failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order, disturbing the peace, obstructing and hindering a police officer.
I doubt she would have faced U-S prosecution. Even WN passengers whose conduct leads to a diversion aren't sentenced to jail.
The State charges all stemmed from the Federal Authority of the crew to remove a person from a flight. Her resistance to the presumptively legal order of the Pilot in Charge, as executed by Local Law Enforcement Officers led to her arrest and charge.
Federal chargers may be unlikely but they often take a long time to bring and depend on the actions of the defendant. If the defendant chooses to make this a gender/racial issue Federal Charges may be more likely, unless there are me currently unknown mitigation factors.