The Chinese researcher accused of helping smuggle a potentially devastating crop-killing fungus into the US will remain in custody until she retains private counsel, according to reports.

Yunqing Jian, 33, appeared in a Detroit courtroom for a detention hearing Thursday afternoon, where a public defender assigned to her case asked the court to reconvene once Jian can hire her own lawyer.

The judge consented and scheduled a new detention hearing for June 13. Jian, a Chinese national and researcher at the University of Michigan, will remain in custody until then, CBS News reported .

Yunqing Jian, 33, is seeking private counsel after being assigned a public defender. Sanilac County Jail

She was arrested on June 3, nearly a year after her boyfriend — 34-year-old Zunyong Liu — was stop

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