Dias Kadyrbayev, a college friend of convicted Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 2 after pleading guilty last year to obstructing the investigation into the bombing that claimed the lives of three people and injured 264 others, according to NDTV.
Federal prosecutors have asked the judge for a prison sentence of seven years for Kadyrbayev. Kadyrbayev could have received a sentenced of up to 25 years in prison, however, due to his guilty plea, prosecutors have asked for a reduced sentence.
Tsarnaev was sentenced to death earlier this month for the attack. Two more of his friends were also convicted of obstructing justice and are also due to be sentenced next week.
Kadyrbayev, a Kazakhistan national, was in the U.S. as a foreign exchange student when he along with two of his pals entered Tsarnaev's dorm immediately after details were made public about Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan's involvement in the bombing, according to Business Insider.
In spite of identifying Tsarnaev as one of the bombing suspects, Kadyrbayev along with two others, Kazakh Azamat Tazhayakov and Roger Phillipos, chose not to inform law enforcement authorities. Kadyrbayev and fellow Kazakh Tazhayakov also got rid of a bag carrying empty firework shells from Tsarnaev's dorm room three days after the bombing incident.
"There is no evidence that Kadyrbayev was aware of Tsarnaev's plan to bomb the Boston Marathon or played any role in that terrorist attack," prosecutors said in a statement. "Nevertheless, Kadyrbayev conspired with Tazhayakov to obstruct a terrorism investigation," International Business Times reported.
MIT University Officer Sean Collier was shot dead by the Tsarnaev brothers. Kadyrbayev may have been able to prevent Collier's death if he had alerted the authorities instead of helping Tsarnaev, said Collier's family members in a court filing on Wednesday, The Washington Post reported.
