A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of Harvard medical researcher Kseniia Petrova from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody but she will remain detained to face criminal charges related to the alleged smuggling of frog embryos, according to her attorney.
Petrova was detained by customs agents in February for allegedly trying to bring undeclared frog embryos into the U.S. as part of her research.
The Harvard researcher is set to be transported to Massachusetts due to a previous court order where she’s expected to face criminal charges on allegations that she was attempting to smuggle the embryos into the U.S. A future bail hearing in that criminal case could ultimately determine her release.
Petrova has been held in a federal prison facility in Louisiana since authorities sent her there after she was first detained in Boston.
An undated handout photo of Kseniia Petrova.
Courtesy Attorney Greg Romanovsky
The federal criminal charges were unveiled earlier this month. Petrova faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
In her immigration case, federal authorities have been aiming to deport Petrova back to her native Russia, despite her fear of being returned to her home country where she says she faced past persecution for her political activities.
“Rather than imposing the appropriate monetary penalties for the customs violation, CBP improperly invoked their extensive immigration authority to impose a punishment grossly disproportionate to the situation,” Petrova’s attorney, Greg Romanovsky, previously told ABC News.
