The art professor indicted on four counts of fraud last week for receiving a shipment of bacteria to use in a biotechnological art project pleaded not guilty in federal court in Buffalo yesterday (July 8) and was essentially released on his own recognizance.
Steven Kurtz, an associate art professor at the University at Buffalo, was issued a $1000 signature bond, which means he pays nothing unless he fails to show up in court whenever requested, according to William Hochul, Jr., the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case. Afterward, Kurtz declined to comment to reporters.
The University of Pittsburgh scientist who supplied the bacteria to him, professor Robert Ferrell, was not arraigned because of illness. If he recovers in time, he will be indicted on July 28 at the court's next conference on the case, according to Hochul. His lawyer, Efrem Grail, has said that Ferrell will also plead not guilty.
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