Artist Steve Kurtz, who has been investigated by the FBI for bioterrorism was finally charged Thursday by a federal grand jury in Buffalo, New York– but “not with bioterrorism, as listed on the Joint Terrorism Task Force’s original search warrant and subpoenas, but with petty larceny. Also indicted was Robert Ferrell, head of the Department of Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health. The charges concern technicalities of how Ferrell helped Kurtz to obtain $256 worth of harmless bacteria for one of Kurtz’s art projects. The laws under which the indictments were obtained covering mail and wire fraud–are normally used against those defrauding others of money or property, as in telemarketing schemes.”