Friends of Boston Marathon bomber sentenced

By News Staff
Information from the Associated Press
news@abc6.com

BOSTON (AP) _ The friends of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have been sentenced in court Friday.

Azamat Tazhayakov was sentenced to 3 years in prison for removing Tsarnaev’s backpack from his dorm room with another friend after the 2013 attack. He has already spent more than two years behind bars.

Tazhayakov tearfully apologized Friday to the people of Boston and to his family for his actions. He also denounced Tsarnaev’s decision to bomb the marathon, saying it made him sick.

Another friend of Tsarnaev, Robel Phillipos, has also been sentenced to three years in prison for lying to the FBI about being in Tsarnaev’s dorm room days after the 2013 attacks.

Phillipos was sentenced Friday, hours after Tazhayakov.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis wrote a letter of support for Phillipos and even testified at his trial.

The sentence given to Phillipos was the most lenient penalty imposed on Tsarnaev’s three college friends who went to his dorm room hours after the FBI publicly released photos of him and his brother as suspects in the attack. 

© The Associated Press/WLNE-TV 2015