Khairullozhon Matanov, 24, a friend of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who allegedly met and spoke with the brothers multiple times during the week of the Boston bombing, filed a motion to enter a new plea in his obstruction of justice case. He is expected to plead guilty.
Khairullozhon Matanov in Boston court.
AP / Jane Flavell Collins
Khairullozhon Matanov, 24, a Boston cab driver and friend of the accused Boston bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, will plead guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's office confirmed Tuesday.
Matanov pleaded not guilty to one charge of obstruction of justice on June 4, 2014.His lawyer didn't return an email and voicemail for comment.
His lawyer filed the motion to enter a new plea this week. A Boston district court judge approved the motion Tuesday and scheduled a hearing for Jan. 27.
According to court documents, Matanov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan living legally in Massachusetts since 2010, spoke to Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the hours after the bombing and had dinner with both brothers on the after the bombing.
The next day, Matanov had a conversation with a friend where he expressed hope that the bombers weren't Muslim.
On Wednesday, April 17, 2013, the day before the Watertown shootout during which Tamerlan was killed, Matanov allegedly spoke with him for about a minute and visited his Cambridge residence later that night.
According to laptop analysis by the F.B.I., on April 19, Matanov accessed the photos released by investigators of the brothers on the F.B.I and CNN's website. He then tried to contact Dzhokhar Tsarnaev multiple times while he was still on the run from law enforcement.
According to the court filing, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz says her office has no evidence that Matanov had knowledge of the Marathon bombing before it occurred.
Khairullozhon Matanov
On Friday, April 19, Matanov went voluntarily to Braintree Police and spoke with investigators. During his interview, Matanov tried to downplay his connection to the Tsarnaevs.
He told investigators that he mostly knew the Tsarnaevs through their mutual place of worship and soccer. The feds allege that this description of his relationship was an attempt to conceal that he had been in contact with the Tsarnaevs that week.
He also told police that he had not seen the F.B.I. photos that were released.
After the interview, Matanov allegedly tried to give one of his cellphones to a friend to hide and tried to delete information from his computer.
On April 20, Matanov met for the first time with federal investigators during which they say he continued to conceal his relationship with the Tsarnaevs, including their meeting and phone calls in the first hours after the bombing.
The F.B.I says that Matanov told investigators he called Tamerlan the day of the bombing to discuss the worship and soccer game he missed the night before.
He also said he ate dinner alone that night.
The F.B.I. says that it was Matanov's idea to meet for dinner on April 15 and that he picked the place.
Matanov is charged with one count of falsifying, concealing, and covering up a material fact in a federal investigation by a trick, scheme, and device.
He faces up to 15 years in prison.
His hearing is scheduled for Jan. 27 at Boston district court — the same courthouse where the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is currently happening.
Based on the current schedule, Matanov's plea hearing will happen down the hall from where opening statements are being delivered in the trial of the younger Tsarnaev brother.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/14waihd
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