NEW YORK — A former congressional aide accused of helping an Iraqi spy agency while Saddam Hussein was in power is mentally unfit for trial, a judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska announced her finding late Monday in the case of Susan Lindauer, who was arrested in 2004 on charges including conspiring to act as a spy for the Iraqi intelligence service. The charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 25 years.
Lindauer, 45, had worked in the press offices of several members of Congress and as a magazine journalist.
Psychiatrist Stuart Kleinman said Lindauer has a serious, long-standing mental disorder that includes grandiose delusions, such as the belief that Osama bin Laden told her about a hidden bomb.
Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, said the office had no comment.
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