Two friends of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were indicted Thursday on accounts of obstruction of justice and conspiracy after allegedly trying to impede and thwart the continuation of the bombing investigation.
Kazakhstan nationals Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, are accused of getting rid of evidence left behind in Tsarnaev’s college dorm room on April 18, according to an indictment filed on Thursday by Assistant U.S. Attorneys B. Stephanie Siegmann and John Capin.
“Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, defendants herein, did knowingly alter, destroy, conceal, and cover up tangible objects with the intent to impede, obstruct, and influence an investigation and proper administration of a matter within the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the indictment stated.
Tsarnaev, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were all students at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, and on the evening of April 18 – after the FBI released photographs of the two men who were suspected of carrying out the bombings − Kadyrbayev received a text message from Tsarnaev that told them they could go take what they wanted from his dorm room, according to the complaint.
Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov allegedly took Tsarnaev’s laptop, fireworks and backpack from his room to their apartment in New Bedford. They also found a jar of petroleum jelly.
Kadyrbayev told Tazhayakov that he believed Tsarnaev used these materials to make bombs, the indictment stated.
Later that night, the defendants put the items in a garbage bag and put them in a dumpster at their apartment. On April 19, after Tsarnaev was identified as a bombing suspect, they allegedly watched a garbage truck empty the bin with the evidence.
The garbage bag of items was recovered a few days later after law enforcement officials searched a New Bedford dump.
Tsarnaev, 20, is accused of causing the April 15 explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured more than 260.
He and his brother, Tamerlan, allegedly shot and killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department officer Sean Collier on the night of April 18. Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with law enforcement officers and, after a prolonged manhunt, Dzhokhar was eventually captured in Watertown found hiding in a boat.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges against him on July 10.
If convicted, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice count and up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count, each with up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, according a Thursday press release from the United States Department of Justice. They also face the possibility of being deported.
Robert Stahl, Kadyrbayev’s attorney, said in a statement on Thursday that Kadyrbayev was disappointed he was indicted.
“My young client, like all of Dzhokhar’s friends at UMass Dartmouth, was shocked and horrified to learn that someone he knew was involved in the terrible Marathon bombing,” he said. “Even though he was literally stunned and in fear, and even though he is from a country where the police are routinely distrusted, from the moment the authorities approached him, he has fully cooperated.”
Stahl said his client fully cooperated with the FBI and answered all of their questions for almost 12 hours without a lawyer present.
“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,” he said.
Arkady Bukh, Tazhayakov’s attorney, said in a statement on Thursday that his client did nothing wrong.
“For me, this sounds like a witch hunt,” he said. “And this is the same view [my] client has.”
Both defendants are scheduled for arraignment in the U.S. District Court in South Boston on Tuesday.