BOSTON (AP) – Lawyer debated whether he was a Harvard researcher Accused of smuggling a frog embryo “Biological materials” were brought to the United States at a court hearing Wednesday.
Xenia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist who conducts cancer research at Harvard Medical School, appeared in Massachusetts federal court on Wednesday to discuss whether the government and her defense attorneys brought in “biological materials,” ABC News reported.
She returned from a holiday from France in February when she was questioned by the US Customs and Border Patrol at Boston Logan International Airport.
Petrova, 30, stopped in a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples for his research. Federal officials on social media website X accused her of lying about “carrying substances,” claiming she was planning to smuggle the embryos through customs without declaring them.
She told The Associated Press In the interview In April, she wasn’t aware of the items she needed to declare and wasn’t trying to sneak anything into the country.
Petrova was told that her visa had been cancelled and that she was being detained by a Vermont immigration officer after her first arrest. She filed a petition seeking release and was sent temporarily to an ice facility in Louisiana, after which a judge determined that the immigration officer’s actions were illegal. In May, she was He was charged with one count of smuggling.
Homeland Security Investigation Agent Brian Goldworthy, who wrote the affidavit in support of the criminal charges, testified Wednesday that Petrova could not leave the airport if he had declared a frog embryo in his luggage, ABC News reported.
He said customs and border agriculture experts and federal labs that reviewed the samples considered them biological material, ABC News reported. Petrova’s lawyers argued that it was unclear what definition the government is making and that the requirement to declare items entering the country does not depend on whether something is biological material, ABC News reported.
After Wednesday’s hearing, both sides will have the opportunity to submit briefs to the judge.
If convicted of smuggling, Petrova faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
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