Cambridge Man Indicted in Boston Marathon Bombing Investigation
A federal grand jury in Boston has returned an indictment against 19-year-old Robel Phillipos, who was previously charged with making false statements during the Boston Marathon bombing terrorism investigation.
Phillipos was indicted on two charges of making false statements after having been previously charged via complaint in May 2013 with making a series of materially false statements to federal law enforcement officials during a terrorism investigation.
The indictment also charges Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, both of New Bedford, Massachusetts, with conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede a terrorism investigation. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are both nationals of Kazakhstan who were temporarily living in the United States pursuant to student visas.
As alleged in the indictment, on April 18, 2013, after the FBI posted photographs of the two men suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings (who were later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev), Kadyrbayev received a text message from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev suggesting that he go to Tsarnaev’s “room and take what’s there.”
Kadyrbayev, Tazhayakov, and Phillipos, according to the indictment, went to Tsarnaev’s dormitory room and removed several items, including Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and a backpack containing fireworks, and brought them to Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov’s apartment in New Bedford. Later that night, Kadyrbayev placed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s backpack, which contained several items, including fireworks, in a garbage bag in a dumpster outside their New Bedford apartment.
The indictment further alleges that Phillipos concealed his actions from the FBI in subsequent interviews.
If convicted, Phillipos faces a maximum penalty of up to eight years in federal prison on each of the two counts. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the obstruction of justice count and five years on the conspiracy count. All face up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each charge. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov also face the possibility of being deported at the conclusion of this prosecution.