3 charged with Boston bombing cover-up

This courtroom sketch signed by artist Jane Flavell Collins shows defendants Dias Kadyrbayev, left, and Azamat Tazhayakov appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The two college friends of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and another man, were arrested and charged with removing a backpack containing hollowed-out fireworks from Tsarnaev’s dorm room. AP PHOTO/JANE FLAVELL COLLINS

BOSTON, Massachusetts—Three 19-year-old students—two Kazakhs and an American—were charged Wednesday with covering up for the suspected Boston marathon bombers, the US Justice Department said.

Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov were accused of conspiring to destroy a laptop and backpack containing fireworks belonging to the suspected bombers.

Robel Phillipos, an American, was charged with making false statements to law enforcement officials.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov, Kazakh nationals in the United States on a student visa, face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $250,000 fine, the Justice Department said.

Phillipos faces up to eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Boston police earlier announced the trio’s arrests in the investigation of the April 15 bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and wounded more than 260.

One of two ethnic Chechens, 19-year-old student Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is already in custody and has been charged with carrying out the bombing.

His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed on April 18 during the manhunt for the pair.