Russian scientist and Harvard Medical School researcher Ksenia Petrova was launched on bail after being held in U.S.
federal custody for presumably stopping working to declare clinical samples she brought into the country, The New York Times reported Thursday.Petrova, 31, was officially charged last month with trying to smuggle frog embryos and embryonic samples into the United States.
The charge, typically utilized in cases including illegal imports of unique or threatened species, brings an optimum penalty of 20 years in prison or a $250,000 fine.The charge comes from a Feb.
16 incident at Boston Logan International Airport, where custom-mades authorities stopped Petrova upon returning from France.
Authorities revoked her research study visa after identifying she had stopped working to effectively state the samples.
She was then transferred in between several immigration detention facilities.Petrovas attorney, Gregory Romanovsky, informed The Moscow Times in a letter last month that the charge was outrageous and lawfully indefensible, arguing that the non-living frog embryos were not classified as restricted biological products under U.S.
customizeds law and did not require a permit.A magistrate judge in Boston ruled Thursday to launch Petrova on bail, permitting her to return to her home ahead of her next court appearance, set up for next week.Romanovsky told NYT that Petrova is currently not able to work due to her visa status.
U.S.
authorities have actually initiated deportation proceedings, and she has not yet decided whether to remain in the country, the lawyer said.She has offers from different countries around the world, nations that aspire to support the research that she is doing, Romanovsky stated.
She is weighing her choices at the moment, and she is extremely grateful to be out.Petrovahas stated she fears arrest or worse if deported back to Russia due to her political advocacy.
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