A federal grand jury indicted two college friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on obstruction of justice charges in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation, authorities announced Thursday.
Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, nationals of Kazakhstan, were charged Thursday with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede investigation, the Justice Department said in a news release.
The indictment alleges that three days after the bombings, "Kadyrbayev received a text message from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev suggesting that he go to Tsarnaev's 'room and take what's there.'"
Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev are accused of removing a backpack containing fireworks emptied of gunpowder and a laptop from Tsarnaev's dorm room three days after the attack to try to keep him from getting into trouble.
If convicted Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction of justice count and both face the possibility of being deported.
Authorities say the Tsarnaev brothers orchestrated the April 15 marathon bombing, in which two pressure cookers loaded with shrapnel exploded near the race's finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty last month to charges including using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after a shootout with police a few days after the bombing.
