U.S.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Federal prosecutors have charged a Massachusetts man with obstructing the investigation into the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. He was allegedly a friend of the two accused bombers.
Prosecutors said Friday that Khairullozhon Matanov, a 23-year-old taxi driver who lives in Quincy, Mass., is charged with destroying, altering and falsifying records in a federal investigation and with making false statements in a federal investigation.
Authorities said that in the days after the April bombings, Matanov realized the FBI would want to talk with him because he knew the suspects and shared their "philosophical justification for violence." He is accused of deleting information from his computer and lying to investigators.
Prosecutors said Matanov had been friends with accused bombers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and had spoken with both in the days after the blast but lied to police about the extent of his relationship with the pair.
However, Matanov is not accused of participating in the bombings or knowing about them in advance. He was scheduled to appear in court later in the day.
The marathon bombings, which involved a pair of homemade pressure-cooker bombs, killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died following a shootout with police days after the bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges and is awaiting a trial in which he faces a possible death sentence.
Wire services
Lawyers say Tsarnaev was refused access to defense despite requests, call for hospital statements to be tossed out.
How do towns and cities memorialize a terrible event without being imprisoned by it?
One year later, mourning the victims of the attack at the finish line.
Error
Sorry, your comment was not saved due to a technical problem. Please try again later or using a different browser.