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Opera singer accepts insanity plea in Mar-a-Lago breach

Florida prosecutors accepted Hannah Roemhild’s plea during a brief hearing Tuesday with the 32-year-old singer appearing by Zoom.
Credit: AP
FILE - Hannah Roemhild, who is accused of driving through checkpoints outside President Donald Trump's Florida home Mar-a-Lago, looks back during her initial appearance hearing, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, West Palm Beach, Fla. Roemhild has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. Florida prosecutors agreed Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022 to accept Hannah Roemhild’s plea during a brief hearing with the 32-year-old singer appearing by Zoom from her home state, Connecticut.(Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File)

FT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Connecticut opera singer who drew law enforcement fire when she sped through a checkpoint outside then-President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. 

Florida prosecutors accepted Hannah Roemhild’s plea during a brief hearing Tuesday with the 32-year-old singer appearing by Zoom from her home state. Federal prosecutors accepted a similar plea deal in August. 

Her attorneys have said she has a history of mental illness. Roemhild only spoke to acknowledge her presence during the three-minute hearing in West Palm Beach.

RELATED: Police open fire at 'impaired' driver in Mar-a-Lago breach

Under terms of the agreement, she must undergo psychiatric treatment and counseling and take medications, with monthly blood tests to confirm compliance.

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The Palm Beach County Sheriff said at the time of the incident, Roemhild, who is from Middletown, was dancing on top of her vehicle outside the Breakers hotel about 3 miles from Mar-a-Lago, when an off-duty Florida Highway Patrol officer working hotel security approached her. 

She jumped into the car and began driving away. 

Authorities say Roemhild led officers on a high-speed chase and eventually crashed through one Mar-a-Lago checkpoint then rammed through another. 

RELATED: Middletown woman competent to stand trial for Mar-a-lago chase

Officials said Secret Service agents and deputies were barely able to avoid being hit before they opened fire. 

After authorities shot at the vehicle, Roemhild drove off. 

Investigators believe she picked up a female relative before they later located her car using a license plate reader. Roemhild ran from her car outside a nearby motel and was tackled by a trooper, Bradshaw said. 

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were not at Mar-a-Lago at the time, but were scheduled to arrive there Friday evening and remain in Florida for the weekend. 

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