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Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School researcher who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday on three criminal counts.
The grand jury determined that there was sufficient evidence to formally accuse Petrova of criminal smuggling, a charge filed against her in May. The jury also indicted Petrova on two additional charges of making false statements.
Petrova was released from criminal custody two weeks ago and awaits a criminal trial, though the first hearing has yet to be scheduled as U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein took the matter under advisement in a hearing last Wednesday.
Petrova was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport in February and transferred to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana after failing to declare frog embryos that she was attempting to bring into the country for her research at HMS. At a hearing last week, assistant U.S. attorney David M. Holcomb accused Petrova of telling multiple “simple lies” at the airport.
Petrova, a Russian national, was moving through deportation proceedings in May when a federal judge in Vermont granted her a bail hearing for her immigration case. But the federal government threw a wrench into the process by filing the criminal smuggling charges in Massachusetts. Petrova was subsequently moved to criminal custody and transferred to Boston for a bail hearing for her criminal charges.
A judge ordered Petrova be released on bail from ICE custody in May, and she was let out of federal custody on bail in June.
Holcomb brought forward a written transcript of Petrova’s interview with Customs and Border Protection at the airport as evidence that appeared to show Petrova denying that she was in possession of biological material when asked by a CBP officer.
The government has alleged that Petrova was informed via text message by a colleague prior to passing through the airport that she was required to declare the samples. The government also pointed to text messages taken from Petrova’s phone by CBP that appeared to show her principal investigator asking how she planned to bring the frog embryos through U.S. customs.
Petrova allegedly replied she had “no plan yet” and joked that she “won’t be able to swallow them.”
Petrova’s criminal lawyer, William W. Fick, admitted at the hearing that the bar for finding probable cause to move forward with criminal charges was “very low.” But he argued that the embryos — which were not alive — should not be classified as biological materials, making moot the government’s charge that she had smuggled biological materials into the country.
Holcomb, representing the federal government, called the argument over the embryos’ classification “post hoc rationalization at best” in the hearing, contending that Petrova still gave a false answer to CBP officials when asked about the contents of her bag.
Dein granted the federal government the opportunity to file a brief on the definition of “biological materials” with a Wednesday night deadline. She also asked Fick to submit a response to the government within a week after the government issues their filing.
A felony smuggling carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The two charges related to false statements carry a sentence of up to five years in prison and another $250,000 fine.
—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.
—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.
