Thread: Boston bombings: Police take three into custody - Breaking news

Tue Jun 2, 2015 1:00pm EDT

Friend of Boston bomber apologizes for obstructing investigation

BOSTON | BY ELIZABETH BARBER AND SCOTT MALONE

A school registry containing information on Dias Kadyrbayev is pictured during an interview with Yuri Dovgal, deputy director of the secondary school which Kadyrbayev went to in 2008 and 2009, in Almaty May 2, 2013.
REUTERS/SHAMIL ZHUMATOV

A friend of the Boston Marathon bomber apologized on Tuesday, before being sentenced to six years in prison for obstruction of justice, for not calling the police when he realized his friend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a suspect in the deadly attack.

Kazakhstan national Dias Kadyrbayev, 21, was one of three friends of Tsarnaev's to face federal charges for removing a backpack containing fireworks from the bomber's college dorm three days after the April 15, 2013, bombing, as the FBI searched for Tsarnaev and his older brother.

"I want to start by saying how truly sorry I am for all the victims, their families, their friends," Kadyrbayev told the court. "I am ashamed by my actions. I know my bad decision put shame on my name."

Prosecutors, who had asked for a seven-year sentence, noted that Tsarnaev and his older brother had shot dead a police officer around the time of the dorm visit. They contended the death could have been averted if Kadyrbayev had immediately called the police.

Prosecutors never claimed that Kadyrbayev or his friends had advance knowledge of the bombing, which killed three people injured 264 in one of the highest-profile attacks on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

"This is as serious an obstruction offense as I can find, or as I suppose I can hypothesize," said U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock.

Tsarnaev, 21, was found guilty and sentenced to death by lethal injection for the bombing. He was also found guilty of shooting dead Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier.

Kadyrbayev's lawyers rejected the claim that their client was responsible for Collier's death, noting that several friends of Tsarnaev's who testified during his trial said they had difficulty believing Tsarnaev was the bomber.

Fellow Kazakh exchange student Azamat Tazhayakov, who was found guilty by a jury of the same charges to which Kadyrbayev pleaded guilty, and Robel Phillipos of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was convicted of the lesser charge of lying to investigators, are due to be sentenced on Friday.

Tsarnaev's 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, died following a gunfight with police in the chaotic hours after Collier's shooting.

Kadyrbayev's father, Murat Kadyrbayev, after the sentencing called Woodlock a "wise man" and said his son had "grown up" since the days after the bombing.

"We all are responsible for each other and the whole family takes responsibility for Dias," the elder Kadyrbayev said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0OI17A20150602

Friend of Boston Marathon bomber gets 3 1/2 years in prison

Published June 05, 2015 Associated Press

A college friend of marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced Friday to 3 1/2 years in prison after he tearfully apologized to the residents of Boston for impeding the investigation into the 2013 attack while authorities frantically searched for the suspects.

Azamat Tazhayakov was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice for removing Tsarnaev's backpack from his dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with another friend.

Tazhayakov denounced Tsarnaev's actions Friday, saying the decision to bomb the marathon made him sick. Tazhayakov's father wept in the courtroom as his son apologized for what he had done.

Prosecutors had recommended a four-year sentence for Tazhayakov. His lawyer asked the judge to sentence him to time served for the 26 months he's already spent in custody.

Another college friend of Tsarnaev's is due to be sentenced Friday afternoon.

Robel Phillipos was convicted of lying to the FBI days after the bombings. Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, a friend of Phillipos' family, wrote a letter of support for him and even testified during his trial.

In the letter to Judge Douglas Woodlock, Dukakis wrote that he "can't understand why justice would be served by incarcerating him."

Prosecutors haven't said what kind of sentence they're seeking for Phillipos.

A third friend of Tsarnaev's was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for not calling police when he recognized photos of Tsarnaev as a suspect.

Dias Kadyrbayev pleaded guilty last year to obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges for removing items from Tsarnaev's dorm room after recognizing his friend in photos released by the FBI days after the bombing.

Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured in the April 15, 2013, bombing. Tsarnaev, 21, has been condemned to death by a federal jury and is awaiting formal sentencing June 24.

Prosecutors say there is no evidence any of the friends knew of plans by Tsarnaev and his older brother to bomb the marathon. Twenty-six-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a shootout with police days after the bombings.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/05...ars-in-prison/

Massachusetts: Friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev Sentenced for Misleading Boston Marathon Investigators

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JUNE 18, 2015

RELATED COVERAGE

• Boston Marathon Bomber to Be Formally Sentenced in June, but Process Is Far From Over
  
  MAY 19, 2015
  
  
• 
  interactive
  
  Reconstructing the Scene of the Boston Marathon Bombing APRIL 17, 2013
  
  
• 
  interactive
  
  The Hunt for the Boston Bombing Suspects APRIL 19, 2013
  
  
• 
  video
  
  U.S. Attorney on Tsarnaev Death Sentence MAY 15, 2015
  
  

A friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev was sentenced on Thursday to two and a half years in prison for misleading investigators in the Boston Marathon bombings. The man, Khairullozhon Matanov, had dinner with Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, after the attack. He pleaded guilty in March to misleading the F.B.I. after the 2013 bombings by deleting his computer files and failing to disclose contact he had with the brothers. Mr. Matanov, a Kyrgyzstan native, was not accused of knowing about the bombings beforehand or participating in the attack. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout with the police. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted and sentenced to death.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/19/us...stigators.html