Brutal, the title makes it sound like she was making a profit or something but she just didn’t know to declare her research and that’s considered smuggling wtf
An immigrant and a Harvard professor?
This is probably being gleefully followed by Trump personally.
A Russian who has opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump’s probably on the phone to Putin promising her delivery right now. It’s one less academic in the USA too - from MAGA’s perspective everybody wins!
They’re definitely throwing the whole book at her. But there’s also a small nugget of a case here. Having been through customs a few times, I think it’s clear that biological materials should be declared. In a normal situation, the infraction would lead to a long wait in the back room, a stern warning, and maybe confiscated embryos. Not felony charges.
Just standard Russophobic propaganda campaign. Amazing they still believe it works… The more Nato’s war against Russia goes badly, the more The Guardian will pivot to attacking China - just like ‘Daddy’.
Did they smuggle them out in a can of Barbasol?
She intentionally didn’t follow proper process - we have email from her boss telling her to follow proper procedure to bring the biological samples in, she decided not to.
She then lied to customs multiple times, first by not declaring the samples, then saying she didn’t have them, then a couple other times.
I’ve dealt with similar issues (not biologics, but other stuff that requires declaration and has a well-established process).
Something very odd with her behaviour, not sure why someone well-versed in this process would behave like this.
This has nothing to do with Trump/ICE - she’s behaving strangely and lying all over the place.
True, but she’s now risking 5 to 8 years of Russian jail time, whereas a fine, or some kind of administrative sanction would have made much more sense.
Teach the dumb bitch right.
If convicted of the smuggling charge, Petrova faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. She also faces a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the charges of concealment of material fact and false statements.
Sounds like something Russia would do.
