Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Friends Charged With Obstruction, False Statements

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Wed May 01, 2013 at 01:33:17 PM EST
Tags: Boston Marathon bombing, Dzhokar Tsarnaev (all tags)

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Here is the Complaint filed today against three of Dzhokar Tsarnaev's friends, Dias Kadyrbayev, Azamat Tazhayakov and Robel Phillipos. The complaint alleges Dias and Azamat went to Dzhokar's dorm room and retrieved his laptop and a backpack with explosives, which Dias later threw away. They are charged with obstruction of justice. Phillipos is charged with lying to authorities. [More...]

On Friday, April 19, police raided the residence of Diaz and Azamat in New Bedford, MA. A search warrant was executed. A female was also taken into custody (photo here.) All three were released. On Saturday, the two males were arrested and put in immigration custody.

Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov have been in immigration custody since April 20, being held for visa violations. They are from Kazakhstan (not Kyrgyzstan where Tsarnaev lived until coming to the U.S. at age 8.)

Here is a photo of Dias being arrested on April 19. Here is the BMW they drove, with a mock front license plate that reads "Terrorista1" which their lawyers have said was a joke.

Here is a photo of Dias and Dzhokhar.

Phillipos is a U.S. citizen. None of the three are believed to have had anything to do with the bombing. The obstruction charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. False statements made in a terror investigation carry a maximum of 8 years under 18 USC 1001 (a)(2).

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's Friends Charged With Obstruction, False Statements | 21 comments (21 topical)

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That license plate is literally... (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Dadler on Wed May 01, 2013 at 02:06:59 PM EST

...the most ill-timed joke in the history of attempted "humor." Why not wear a t-shirt that says, "I Have Bird Flu, Now You Do Too." Nothing criminal, but in the context of the Boston case, egad, nothing but bad for the defense from the go.

The rest, I'll let the experts deal with, since nothing is proven until it is.

This is a teachable moment for me and my sons. (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by Kemah on Fri May 03, 2013 at 11:21:50 AM EST

We had a discussion about the consequences of withholding information. Your friends are important but we also live in a community of friends and we need to think about that.

According to sources close to the investigation, (none / 0) (#4)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed May 01, 2013 at 03:39:40 PM EST

According to sources close to the investigation, Kadyrbayev was first taken into federal custody on April 19, hours before police captured Tsarnaev. Kadyrbayev was then released, only to be brought back in for additional questioning on April 21, sources told CNN.
Authorities were initially suspicious of activity on Kadyrbayev's Facebook page. While Tsarnaev was evading police in the early morning hours of April 19, Kadyrbayev was deleting a photo that allegedly showed him and the bombing suspect having dinner together, sources told CNN.

How were the "authorities" following Kadyrbayev's FB activities in what seems to be real-time?

Our permanent record was a Cheech & Chong (5.00 / 1) (#7)
by Mr Natural on Wed May 01, 2013 at 09:28:32 PM EST

joke when we were kids. But on the net, it's quite real.


The same way my wife follows me :) (none / 0) (#9)
by bocajeff on Wed May 01, 2013 at 11:05:32 PM EST

How were the "authorities" following Kadyrbayev's FB activities in what seems to be real-time?


: By watching his FB page and hitting refresh? (none / 0) (#12)
by Mr Natural on Thu May 02, 2013 at 10:27:35 AM EST

Or there may exist a pay for play back door, similar to the way in which Telcos charge the Feds for snooping on their customers. Zuckerberg's a billionaire now, which places him squarely in the "establishment." Facebook is not exactly unknown for exploiting and monetizing its users.

Are they idiots? (none / 0) (#5)
by TeresaInPa on Wed May 01, 2013 at 04:38:28 PM EST

seriously, what did they think they were doing? Were they back up or did they just get roped in to helping a friend?
There was another friend, a kid from High School. He was interviewed by the media and he said they all thought the pictures looked like their friend from school but they did call the authorities because they didn't want to "throw him under the bus".
Is it possible boy brains don't really gel until 30?

People - male or female - don't generally (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by inclusiveheart on Wed May 01, 2013 at 05:14:24 PM EST

have fully formed frontal lobes until they are around 25. The frontal lobe is where activities like judgment and fear of death are processed in the brain.


Sexist much? (none / 0) (#8)
by bocajeff on Wed May 01, 2013 at 11:04:34 PM EST

Is it possible boy brains don't really gel until 30?


Don't know how gelled... (none / 0) (#10)
by kdog on Thu May 02, 2013 at 09:16:58 AM EST

my dome is but I ain't ratting out my friends, though in a case like this I might kill them myself...but never rat.


Nothing in federal law required these kids (5.00 / 4) (#11)
by Peter G on Thu May 02, 2013 at 10:14:41 AM EST

to rat out their friend. But the law did require, if he asked them to hide him, to assist him in fleeing, or to destroy possible evidence, to say, "Sorry, no, I can't do that." And not to lie to federal agents about it, regardless of what they did or didn't do. Like anyone, they could say, "I don't choose to answer your questions." (I realize it's psychologically very hard to do that, but they could.) But they can't lie, without committing a federal crime.


: Informative as always Peter.... (5.00 / 3) (#14)
by kdog on Thu May 02, 2013 at 10:30:07 AM EST

always bugged me that the authorities can lie like the day is long no problem, but when a civilian does it it's a crime.

: when you think about it (5.00 / 0) (#15)
by nyjets on Thu May 02, 2013 at 10:47:32 AM EST

If you know you have a friend who is going to or has hurt or killed other people, I would think that you would want to tell the police.

: Some of us were lucky to survive to adulthood. (none / 0) (#13)
by Mr Natural on Thu May 02, 2013 at 10:28:27 AM EST

I have more faith in you than that (none / 0) (#17)
by TeresaInPa on Thu May 02, 2013 at 07:21:11 PM EST

I think if your friend blew up a bunch of people and seemed to be headed to blow up some more you would help the FBI stop them.


I'd stop 'em... (none / 0) (#21)
by kdog on Fri May 03, 2013 at 11:44:00 AM EST

but I can't be messin' with no FBI, make a bad situation worse...it's just not in my DNA.

Uber-hypothetical anyway...I like to think I roll with a higher class of people;)


Remember the wise words... (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by kdog on Fri May 03, 2013 at 11:57:06 AM EST

of Hunter S Thompson...

And that's what happened, folks. We never saw those FBI agents again. Never. And I learned a powerful lesson: Never believe the first thing an FBI agent tells you about anything -- especially not if he seems to believe you are guilty of a crime. Maybe he has no evidence. Maybe he's bluffing. Maybe you are innocent. Maybe. The Law can be hazy on these things....But it is definitely worth a roll.

: lol; "As your attorney, I advise you to" (none / 0) (#23)
by Mr Natural on Fri May 03, 2013 at 07:25:43 PM EST

(I won't even finish the quote; it will get me put on a list.)

oh boo hoo (none / 0) (#16)
by TeresaInPa on Thu May 02, 2013 at 07:19:10 PM EST

show me all the girls getting mixed up in this shit and we can talk.


: Here are a few that came to mind (5.00 / 3) (#18)
by Peter G on Thu May 02, 2013 at 08:03:11 PM EST

Most members of the May 19 Communist Organization
Several prominent members of the FALN
many of the Chechen movie theater bombers
A number of the anti-abortion arsonists

: So, (none / 0) (#19)
by bocajeff on Thu May 02, 2013 at 08:11:40 PM EST

Because most of the perpetrators are men (boys) then your comment isn't sexist? Ok, so if most of the crime is committed by an ethnic group or terrorism committed by any specific religion in greater amounts, then you would be okay with calling them out specifically?