dpUS Attorney Leah B. Foley filed a four-page Notice of Dismissal in federal court in Boston saying her office sought to dismiss the indictment “with prejudice,” meaning the charges cannot be brought against Petrova again.
Foley’s notice said recent rulings required prosecutors to gather and supply defense lawyers with a “broad” array of records in support of Petrova’s “meritless” claims of vindictive and selective prosecution, as well as US Customs and Border Protection’s inspection policies and procedures, some of which contain nonpublic information.
“The United States Attorney has determined that dismissal is appropriate based on developments in this case and an assessment of the office’s priorities and resources,” the notice said.
Additional legal disputes and litigation are anticipated in the case, which “would divert significant time and attention from more substantial federal interests,” Foley wrote.
If convicted as charged, Petrova faced a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Petrova’s defense lawyer, William W. Fick, said they are pleased with the dismissal, but the charges “never should have been brought” against Petrova.
“We are pleased the DOJ has finally reached the appropriate conclusion and asked the court to immediately dismiss all criminal charges against Ms. Petrova,” Fick said in an email to the Globe Tuesday night. “The DOJ never should have brought this highly unusual ‘smuggling’ prosecution against Kseniia Petrova, a talented scientist at Harvard.”
“Ms. Petrova only sought to advance medical research into aging that could benefit everyone, and her handling of scientific samples — inert, non-living, non-toxic, frog embryos — never posed any danger to anyone,” he said.
“Throughout these proceedings, Ms. Petrova has shown tremendous courage, and we are relieved that this chapter of her terrible ordeal will soon be over,” Fick said.
The dismissal of federal charges is Petrova’s most recent in a succession of positive court developments and rulings in her high-profile case.
In December 2025, Petrova successfully challenged the federal government in federal court in Boston, securing her right to work in the United States. She returned to her lab at Harvard in January.
In April, Petrova prevailed in her immigration case.
US Customs and Border Protection agents canceled Petrova’s visa after she was detained and sought to deport her.
A federal judge in Vermont ruled that the agency improperly canceled Petrova’s visa, and the agency’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, unlawful, and exceeded the officers’ authority or jurisdiction.
The ruling said CBP officers have limited authority to cancel visas, and the grounds “do not include a customs violation or even suspected smuggling of biological samples.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the ruling was a perversion of the facts by an activist judge.
Petrova graduated from a renowned Russian physics and technology institute and worked at the Institute of Genetic Biology in Moscow from 2023 to 2024. She served as a bioinformatician of genetic disorders at the Moscow Center for Genetics from 2016 to 2023, court documents said.
Petrova arrived at Harvard from the Republic of Georgia in May 2023, bringing “elite training” and “complex expertise,” Leonid Peshkin, her laboratory supervisor in the systems biology department at Harvard, previously told the Globe.
When Petrova was detained, she was returning from a two-week vacation in Paris. At the request of a colleague, she was transporting the samples back to the Harvard lab, where she was involved in research on aging and disease.
Petrova’s lawyers argued that the samples were harmless, and that, historically, such infractions had been considered minor and punishable with a fine.
Prosecutors said they found text messages on Petrova’s phone that revealed she was aware that she was required to report the biological samples. They alleged that a colleague asked her how she planned to get them through customs and she replied, “No plan yet. I won’t be able to swallow them.”
The Harvard scientists previously had tried to have a shipment of “precious” frog embryo samples sent to them via FedEx, but the package was “defrosted, mishandled, and lost,” Peshkin previously told the Globe.
Peshkin said it was his fault that Petrova picked up more samples while vacationing in France and tried to bring them back to Harvard. He said he made “a mistake” that he hugely regretted.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @talanez.
