A third friend of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has now been indicted on a charge related to what authorities say were attempts by the trio to mislead investigators or dispose of evidence that linked Tsarnaev to the bombings.
The office of the U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts posted this statement on Twitter early Thursday afternoon:
"Federal GJ indicts Robel Phillipos for making false statements during the Boston Marathon bombing terrorism investigation."
GJ refers to a grand jury.
A second tweet states that:
"Robel Phillipos will not appear in court this week. Once a date for his hearing has been scheduled, we will post it."
Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, who died April 19 after a gun battle with police, are the lone suspects in the bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 260 near the finish line of the marathon on April 15.
Earlier this month, Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, also friends of Tsarnaev, were indicted "for allegedly trying to thwart investigators by throwing away fireworks and other items they found in Tsarnaev's dorm room the day before his capture."
Phillipos is accused of lying about what Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov did. Phillipos has been out on bail since his early May arrest. At the time of his arrest, he was 19.
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