Reno U. Maiava, a former Washington state prison inmate, was subdued by undercover air marshals who were on board to monitor him during a Northwest Airlines flight in December 2003.

The U.S. attorney's office in Seattle agreed to let him plead not guilty by reason of insanity to a charge of interfering with a flight crew, and U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour determined Friday that Maiava failed to show the public would not be at risk if he were released, said Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Lulejian.

Coughenour turned Maiava over to the attorney general's office for placement in a treatment facility, most likely in his home state of Hawaii, or Washington.

Maiava yelled obscenities at federal officials during his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Officials said he was disruptive before the flight and got up during it, knocking into an elderly woman, and yelling "Where's my shirt?" before he charged toward the cockpit and shouted that he wanted to see the captain.

Maiava was released from the Washington state Department of Corrections' Special Needs Unit in May 2001. State officials contacted air marshals and encouraged them to place agents aboard a Seattle-to-Honolulu flight that he took Nov. 19, 2003. Due to concerns Maiava could endanger people on his return flight, three marshals were assigned to it, authorities said.