A Quincy man who was a friend of the late Boston #Marathon #bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been arrested and charged with obstructing the investigation of the bombing, federal prosecutors said.
Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, of Quincy was arrested this morning by federal authorities, the US attorney’s office in Boston said.
He has been indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of destroying, altering, and falsifying records, documents, and tangible objects in a federal investigation. He is also charged with making a false statement in a federal terrorism investigation.
Matanov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan who entered the United States lawfully in 2010, also knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s brother, Dzhokhar.
The indictment filed in US District Court in Boston says that “in the hours and days following the bombings, Matanov contacted and attempted to contact Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by cellphone and saw Tamerlan in person at least twice.”
In fact, the indictment alleges, Matanov called Tamerlan Tsarnaev about 40 minutes after the April 15, 2013, terror bombings and bought him and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev dinner that night at a restaurant.
Three people were killed and more than 260 people were injured in the attack. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed several days later in a violent confrontation with police. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is awaiting trial on federal charges that could bring him the death penalty. The two brothers also allegedly murdered an MIT police officer.
After the release of photos of the suspected Marathon bombers, Matanov realized the FBI would want to talk with him because of his ties to them in the week following the bombings, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Matanov allegedly took a series of steps to impede the FBI’s probe into the extent of his friendship, contact and communication with the suspected bombers.
Authorities said Matanov made a number of false statments to investigators and deleted information from his computer.
He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston this afternoon.
Source: Boston Globe
Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, of Quincy was arrested this morning by federal authorities, the US attorney’s office in Boston said.
He has been indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of destroying, altering, and falsifying records, documents, and tangible objects in a federal investigation. He is also charged with making a false statement in a federal terrorism investigation.
Matanov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan who entered the United States lawfully in 2010, also knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s brother, Dzhokhar.
The indictment filed in US District Court in Boston says that “in the hours and days following the bombings, Matanov contacted and attempted to contact Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by cellphone and saw Tamerlan in person at least twice.”
In fact, the indictment alleges, Matanov called Tamerlan Tsarnaev about 40 minutes after the April 15, 2013, terror bombings and bought him and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev dinner that night at a restaurant.
Three people were killed and more than 260 people were injured in the attack. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed several days later in a violent confrontation with police. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is awaiting trial on federal charges that could bring him the death penalty. The two brothers also allegedly murdered an MIT police officer.
After the release of photos of the suspected Marathon bombers, Matanov realized the FBI would want to talk with him because of his ties to them in the week following the bombings, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Matanov allegedly took a series of steps to impede the FBI’s probe into the extent of his friendship, contact and communication with the suspected bombers.
Authorities said Matanov made a number of false statments to investigators and deleted information from his computer.
He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston this afternoon.
Source: Boston Globe
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