BOSTON (AP) — A friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR’ tsahr-NEYE’-ehv) has been convicted of lying during the investigation into the 2013 attack.
Robel Phillipos, of Cambridge, was convicted of both counts Tuesday.
Prosecutors say he lied about being in Tsarnaev’s dorm room while two other friends removed potential evidence three days after the bombing while an intense manhunt was underway to find the suspected bombers.
FBI agents testified that Phillipos told them a string of lies before finally acknowledging he had been in Tsarnaev’s room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with the two men who removed Tsarnaev’s a backpack containing fireworks and laptop computer.
Phillipos’ lawyers said he was a frightened 19-year-old who was intimidated by the FBI and too high on marijuana to clearly remember what he did that night.
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I’m sort of with the defense. Doesn’t seem like this kid was part of a conspiracy–just didn’t help with the investigation afterwards.
Being a stoner with a aversion to authority isn’t much of a threat to national security. I hope he gets a light sentence.
I have a tough time with the idea that it’s a criminal offense just to lie to investigators. They certainly don’t hesitate for a second to lie to suspects, witnesses, or anyone else at their convenience. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for anyone involved in terrorism, even peripherally, but they can’t charge him with a crime so they get him for lying?
Aside from the fact that this kid’s life is now ruined for something I don’t even think should be illegal, this more than reinforces the idea that one should never talk to the police or other authorities. I’ve never committed a criminal offense (traffic laws aside), but I can’t envision a situation in which I’d speak so much as a word to police (or even more so federal authorities) in any circumstances. IMO the “us versus them” situation is worsening every day, and it must be having an effect on good law enforcement. They’ve done everything in their power to earn the distrust of ordinary citizens.
Absurd. Just absurd, excessive, frightening.
Three people died including an 8 year old boy and sixteen people lost limbs a fact these guys were aware of when they decided to hide evidence. You’re a lot more forgiving than I am.
You all must have forgotten that the FBI was in pursuit of two mass bombers, who went on to kill a guard and someone else before being hunted down. This stoner didn’t do his duty to all of us…in fact he got in the way of the people trying to protect us.
Sometimes I want to join the GOP.