Three college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were arrested and accused Wednesday of removing a backpack containing fireworks emptied of gunpowder from Tsarnaev's dorm room three days after the attack to try to keep him from getting into trouble.
In court papers, the FBI said one of them threw the backpack in the garbage -- it was later found in a landfill by law enforcement officers -- after they concluded from news reports that Tsarnaev was one of the bombers.
From left, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, from Kazakhstan, with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Times Square in New York in this undated picture added April 18, 2013, to the VK page of Dias Kadyrbayev. / AP PHOTO/VK
Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by concealing and destroying evidence. A third man, Robel Phillipos, was charged with lying to investigators about the visit to Tsarnaev's room.
In a court appearance Wednesday afternoon, Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev waived bail and agreed to voluntarily detention. Their next hearing is scheduled for May 14.
Phillipos is one of three college students being held by police for hiding evidence in the Boston bombing case.
Phillipos was ordered held pending a detention and probable cause hearing scheduled for Monday.
CBS Boston station WBZ-TV reports that federal Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler admonished Phillipos in court, telling him to pay attention and not look down during the proceeding.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the attorneys for the suspects spoke outside of the Federal Courthouse in Boston. They say their clients had no idea the attack was being planned.
"He is just as shocked and horrified by the violence in Boston that took place as the rest of the community is," said lawyer Robert Stahl on behalf of Kadyrbayev. "He did not know that this individual was involved in the bombing. His first inkling came much later. We'll be looking forward to proving our case in court. He did not have anything to do with it."
"Azamat Tazhayakov feels horrible and shocked that someone he knew at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth was involved in the Boston Marathon bombing," said Tazhayakov's attorney Harlan Protass. "He has cooperated fully with the authorities and looks forward to the truth coming out. He considers it an honor to be able to study in the U.S., and that he feels terrible for the people who have suffered as a result of the bombing."
Meanwhile, the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth said that Tazhayakov has been suspended "pending the outcome of the case." The university said Kadyrbayez and Phillipos aren't enrolled and that it's cooperating fully with authorities.