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Kazakh Student Convicted Of Impeding Boston Marathon Probe


Azamat Tazhayakov (on the far right) has been found guilty of impeding the Boston Marathon bombing probe.
Azamat Tazhayakov (on the far right) has been found guilty of impeding the Boston Marathon bombing probe.

A college friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted on July 21 of impeding the investigation into the bombing.

Azamat Tazhayakov, a student from Kazakhstan, was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

The jury in Boston found Tazhayakov conspired with friend Dias Kadyrbayev to take from Tsarnaev's room a backpack containing fireworks that had been emptied of their explosive powder just days after the 2013 bombing.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers both told the jury it was Kadyrbayev who actually threw the items away, but prosecutors argued Tazhayakov agreed with the plan and played an active role.

His trial was the first stemming from the attack, which killed three and injured more than 260 near the marathon's finish line.

The 20-year-old Tazhayakov faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence for obstruction and a five-year maximum for conspiracy.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 16.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

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