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A federal judge ordered on Thursday that Kseniia Petrova — a Harvard Medical School researcher who was detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in February — be released from criminal custody.
Petrova, a Russian citizen who was arrested by Customs and Border Protection after failing to declare samples of frog embryos that she hoped to bring into the United States for research, will be released on her personal recognizance with restrictions, U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein ordered.
After she was detained at Boston Logan International Airport this winter, Petrova was transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, where she remained until District Court Judge Christina Reiss ordered her release from ICE detention on bail on May 28.
But earlier that month, the federal government had taken the unusual step of filing criminal smuggling charges against Petrova in Massachusetts, and she remained in criminal custody after Reiss’s order.
Petrova has been ordered to report to probation “as directed,” though the terms of her probation have not yet been filed, and cannot leave New England as the case proceeds in court.
The criminal smuggling charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. A probable cause hearing to determine whether or not the federal government will proceed with criminal charges has been scheduled for June 18.
But her release from ICE custody did not end the monthslong legal battle. Still facing both deportation proceedings and felony smuggling charges, Petrova was transferred to custody of the U.S. Marshal Service, according to court documents, and moved to a prison in Louisiana.
Shortly after her May hearing, ICE issued a civil immigration detainer, which could allow the agency to detain her again even after she is released from criminal custody. Though a judge declined to block the detainer in the May hearing, ICE has confirmed that they do not plan to re-detain Petrova, lawyers for the federal government said in the Thursday hearing.
Federal immigration agents had previously said they hoped to deport Petrova to Russia, where she has said she fears retribution for protesting against the invasion of Ukraine.
Petrova has worked at HMS since 2023, where she researches treatments for cancer. Since her arrest, public outcry over her case has heightened — all while the Trump administration’s escalating campaign against Harvard has continued to ensnare international students and researchers.
—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.
