Smuggling Case Dismissed Against Harvard Research Scientist

CAMBRIDGE, MA — A federal judge has dismissed the criminal case against a Harvard Medical School researcher accused of smuggling frog embryo samples into the United States.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin dismissed all three charges against Kseniia Petrova on Wednesday, Nov. 4, after federal prosecutors asked to end the case Tuesday. Petrova had faced charges of concealment of a material fact, making a false statement, and smuggling goods into the United States.

The dismissal followed months of litigation over whether the government had selectively or vindictively prosecuted Petrova. In their filing, prosecutors maintained that those claims lacked merit but said continuing the case would require resources better directed toward other federal priorities. They also cited the burden of complying with a court order requiring the government to provide records related to comparable customs cases and border inspection policies.

Petrova, a Russian national and bioinformatics researcher, arrived at Logan International Airport in February 2025 on a flight from Paris carrying preserved frog embryo samples for research. Customs and Border Protection officials found samples in her luggage that she had not declared. Prosecutors alleged that she initially denied carrying biological material before acknowledging the samples during further questioning.

A customs officer canceled Petrova’s visa, and she was taken into immigration custody. Federal prosecutors brought a criminal smuggling charge in May 2025 while she was challenging her detention. She was released from criminal custody on pretrial conditions on June 12, 2025, and a grand jury returned the three-count indictment later that month.

In an April 1 ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein allowed Petrova’s attorneys to obtain records supporting their claims of selective and vindictive prosecution. Dein examined the timing of the criminal case, public statements by federal officials, and an offer to resolve the prosecution if Petrova abandoned her requests for immigration relief, left the country, and did not seek readmission for five years. Petrova declined the offer.

The ruling allowed Petrova to investigate those claims further and did not constitute a final determination that the prosecution was unlawful. Sorokin upheld the discovery order on Oct. 8, rejecting the government’s appeal.

In a separate ruling on April 7, Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Vermont found that Customs and Border Protection had unlawfully canceled Petrova’s visa. Reiss concluded that the agency lacked legal grounds for the cancellation and ordered it set aside.

“The DOJ never should have brought this highly unusual ‘smuggling’ prosecution against Kseniia Petrova, a talented scientist at Harvard,” her attorney Daniel Marx said in a statement.

Petrova’s attorneys at Fick and Marx have described the samples as nonliving, nontoxic, chemically preserved embryonic frog cells used for scientific research. The defense argued that the criminal case was improperly linked to her efforts to challenge her immigration detention.

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