Three more suspects were taken into custody in the Boston Marathon bombing case, including two college friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who came to the U.S. from Kazakhstan.
The suspects – all of them 19 years old-- looked very young. They were wearing jeans and t-shirts. Dias Kadyrbayev one of the Kazakh students was wearing a grey turtleneck and sneakers. They were all marched in wearing shackles on their wrists and ankles. They were looking down for the most part and only spoke to say yes or no when the judge asked them questions.
The two Kazakh students didn’t appear to have any family in the courtroom, but the mother of the third suspect, Robel Phillipos of Cambridge, was crying and shaking.
According to the federal complaint, after two of the men Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov watched news reports and concluded that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was one of the bombers, they allegedly got rid of Tsarnaev's laptop and a backpack containing fireworks from Tsarnaev’s dorm room, so their friend wouldn’t get in trouble.
They are charged with obstruction of justice and face a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.
The third suspect, Robel Phillipos, is charged with making false statements to law enforcement officials in a terrorism investigation. He faces eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
After the hearing, outside the courthouse, two different stories started to emerge. The government says the suspects were obstructing justice. But lawyers for the defendants say they were helping the federal government.
Robert Stahl, who represents Kadyrbayev, denied the charges against his client.
"As we've said from the very beginning, he assisted the FBI in this investigation," Stahl said. "He did not know this individual was involved in the bombing. His first inkling came much later. Mr. Kadyrbayev and his family are very sorry for what happened here in Boston, and he did not have anything to do with it."
Harlan Protass, the attorney for Tazhayakov, made a similar statement.
"My client, Azamat Tazhayakov, feels horrible and was shocked that someone that he knew at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth was involved in the Boston Marathon bombing, just like other individuals who were interviewed on campus," Protass said. "I'd like to say also that he considers it an honor to be able to study in the United States, and that he feels for the people of Boston who have suffered as a result of the marathon bombing.
Reporters tried to push back, asking why Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov didn’t call the police right away when they recognized the picture of Tsarnaev. But the attorneys brushed that aside and left.
