A federal grand jury in Boston indicted Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born Harvard scientist, in connection with attempting to smuggle clawed frog embryos and embryonic samples into the United States.
Petrova, 31, was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 25 on one count of concealment of a material fact, one count of false statement, and one count of smuggling goods into the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts. She was previously only charged with smuggling in May.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection canceled Petrova's visa in February after she failed to declare scientific samples when she returned to Boston from France. CBP agents then turned her over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the intent of deporting her back to Russia, where she had fled after protesting Russia's war in Ukraine.
The researcher's attorneys argue that CBP's actions were "arbitrary and capricious" and her detention illegal. Petrova, who was held in custody for nearly four months before her release earlier this month, pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charge and has sued the Trump administration for wrongfully detaining her.
The two new charges come after Petrova's lawyers urged a federal judge last week to dismiss the initial criminal complaint, Reuters reported. Prosecutors secured the indictment after Magistrate Judge Judith Dein ordered Petrova's pre-trial release at a June 12 hearing in Boston.
