Boston bombing suspect's friends indicted on obstruction of justice charges

Fox News/August 8, 2013

A federal grand jury has returned a two-count indictment against two friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a U.S. attorney announced.

MyFoxBoston.com reported that Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both nationals of Kazakhstan who were residing in New Bedford on student visas, were charged Thursday with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the bombing investigation. The two have been in federal custody since their arrest.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov attended the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with Tsarnaev, MyFoxBoston.com reported. They were originally charged with conspiring to obstruct justice on May 1 after seeing Tsarnaev's photo on television as a suspect in the bombings. Their lawyers said the men had no role in the bombings.

If convicted, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction of justice count and up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count, each to be followed by up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Both face the possibility of being deported, the report said.

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