BUFFALO - A judge on Monday dismissed terrorism-linked charges against a college professor accused of illegally obtaining biological materials for an art exhibit protesting U.S. government food policies.

U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara ruled that a mail and wire fraud indictment brought nearly four years ago against Steven Kurtz, a University at Buffalo professor, was “insufficient on its face.”

Kurtz is a founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble, which has used human DNA and other biological materials in works meant to draw attention to political and social issues. His arrest drew international attention, with artists in several countries protesting the charges as an intrusion on artistic freedom.

“Obviously this is a weight off his back, but he still had to suffer through this for four years,” said Kurtz's attorney, Paul Cambria. “The last thing this guy is is a bioterrorist.”

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo declined to discuss the ruling, saying only that an appeal was being considered.

Kurtz became the target of a federal terrorism investigation in May 2004 when firefighters found the materials - two kinds of bacteria - and equipment they deemed suspicious after a 911 call to his home. Kurtz had called to report that his wife was dead from an apparent heart attack.

Although investigators determined that lab equipment used for DNA extraction and amplification equipment was part of his artwork and that Hope Kurtz died naturally, he was indicted a month later on charges that carried a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Kurtz was accused of plotting with Robert Ferrell, the former chairman of the University of Pittsburgh's human genetics department, to improperly obtain potentially harmful organisms.