A grand jury indicted Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhaykov, the two friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect DzhokharTsarnaev on obstruction of justice charges for helping to hide evidence after the April 15 terror attack that killed three people and injured 264 people, the US Attorney's office for Massachusetts said, as reported by Reuters.
On May 1, Kadyrbayev and Tazhaykov were charged with willfully conspiring to commit an offense against the U.S. by destroying or concealing items to impede or influence a criminal investigation, Newsday reported. At the time, 19-year-old Robel Phillipos, another friend, was charged with lying to investigators. Phillipos said he did not go into Tsarnaev's dorm room, nor remembering if anything had been removed.
Kazakh-born national Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, facing charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, The Boston Globe reported. The two men acted after Tsarnaev sent them a text message which read, "take what's there...if yu [sic] want yu [sic] can go to my room and wake what's there... salam aleikum," according to reports. They then collected Tsarnaev's laptop, fireworks and his backpack from the dorm room.
Later that night Kadyrbayev, with what prosecutors called Tazhayakov's "knowledge and agreement,'' put the items in a garbage bag and put them in a dumpster, which was later recovered by law enforcement after several days of searching, The Boston Globe also reported.
Robert G. Stahl, Kadyrbayev's attorney, expressed disappointment his client was indicted since he cooperated with the FBI.
"Even though he was literally stunned and in fear [when Tsarnaev was identified as a bomber], and even though he is from a country where the police are routinely distrusted, from the moment the authorities approached him he has cooperated fully. despite the rush to judgment and, now, the present charges, Dias trusts the American justice system and looks forward to proving his innocence at trial," Stahl said.
Phillipos has not been indicted.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is currently being held without bail and facing multiple federal charges. He and his brother Tamerlan set off the two bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line in the worst terror attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2011.
