A college friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev plans to plead guilty to impeding the investigation into the deadly attack, his lawyer said Wednesday. Dias Kadyrbayev, 20, is accused of removing a backpack containing emptied-out fireworks from Tsarnaev's dorm room after realizing he was suspected of carrying out the 2013 attack with his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Prosecutors said Kadyrbayev and another friend, Azamat Tazhayakov, decided to take the items from Tsarnaev's room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth several days after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260. The items, along with Tsarnaev's laptop computer, were removed hours after the FBI publicly released photographs of Tsarnaev and his brother as suspects in the bombing. Tazhayakov was convicted last month.
During his trial, witnesses said Kadyrbayev took the backpack and threw it in the trash, while Tazhayakov was convicted of agreeing with the plan to remove the items. An electronic notice filed Wednesday said Kadyrbayev is expected to be in court Thursday for a change-of-plea hearing. His lawyer, Robert Stahl, confirmed that he intends to plead guilty, but wouldn't say whether he would admit to one or both charges.
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- The Associated Press