Judge takes step toward possible release of detained Russian Harvard scientist accused of smuggling

A federal judge in Vermont ruled in favor of a Russian Harvard scientist who was detained by ICE and accused of smuggling goods into the U.S. on Wednesday.

Kseniia Petrova, 31, was first detained by ICE before being transferred to criminal custody earlier this month. Wednesday’s ruling ensures that if she is granted bail and released at her criminal hearing next week, ICE cannot detain her once again.

President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to deport Petrova back to Russia following her detention at Boston’s Logan Airport in February. She has worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School for more than two years, and colleagues at the school testified in her defense at Wednesday’s hearing.

Authorities charged Petrova with smuggling biological material after TSA at the airport allegedly found clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples in her luggage.

RUSSIAN SCIENTIST AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL DETAINED BY ICE AT BOSTON AIRPORT

The judge determined on Wednesday that Petrova is not a flight risk and does not pose any danger to the community. Her criminal bail hearing is set to take place next week in Massachusetts.

The judge also noted that Petrova’s work at Harvard has benefited the U.S., as her team is focused on cancer research.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Petrova allegedly denied having the biological material at first but later admitted to carrying it.

Prosecutors also claim that Petrova’s text messages show that she was aware that she needed a permit to bring in the clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples that were allegedly found in her luggage. In one text message exchange cited by the office, Petrova was asked whether she had a plan to get the biological material into the U.S., and she allegedly responded by saying, “No plan yet. I won’t be able to swallow them.”

Gregory Romanovsky, the attorney representing Petrova, argues that customs experts confirmed that his client “did not need a permit to bring her non-living scientific samples that are not considered biological material under U.S. Customs law.”

Petrova said in a recent New York Times op-ed that she was returning to the U.S. after vacationing in Paris when she was detained by ICE in February. She also expressed her fear of being arrested in Russia if deported, as she has been a critic of the war in Ukraine.

While she admitted in the op-ed to not filling out a customs form regarding the frog embryos in her luggage, she believed it would result in a fine or warning, not an arrest.

“At Logan International Airport, I did not complete a customs declaration for frog embryos (for use in our lab’s research) in my luggage. I’m told this would normally result in a warning or a fine. Instead, my visa was revoked, and I was sent to a detention center in Louisiana,” Petrova wrote.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.