Bombing suspect's friend convicted of lying to FBI

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-EXCITE

By DENISE LAVOIE

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's friend was convicted Tuesday of lying to federal agents during the investigation into the deadly 2013 attack.

Robel Phillipos, 21, of Cambridge, was convicted of two counts for lying about being in Tsarnaev's dorm room while two other friends removed a backpack containing fireworks and other potential evidence three days after the bombing while authorities were looking for the suspected bombers. He looked straight ahead impassively as the guilty verdicts were read.

FBI agents testified that Phillipos told them a string of lies about the night of April 18, 2013, before finally acknowledging he had been in Tsarnaev's room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with the two men who removed Tsarnaev's backpack and computer.

Phillipos' lawyers said he was a frightened 19-year-old who was intimidated by the FBI and too high on marijuana to clearly remember what he did that night. The defense called several friends who said Phillipos smoked marijuana a half-dozen times that day.

FULL story at link.



Defense attorneys Susan Church, right, and Derege Demissie walk away from the media outside federal court, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, in Boston, after their client, Robel Phillipos, friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was convicted of lying during the investigation into the 2013 attack. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141028/us--marathon_bombing-suspects_friends-df1c24b9c5.html

[uppityperson]

1. Good. Lying to the FBI is not a good idea.

[jakeXT]

2. But they can "FBI created fake Seattle Times Web page to nab bomb-threat suspect"

FBI created fake Seattle Times Web page to nab bomb-threat suspect

The FBI created a fake news story on a bogus Seattle Times Web page to plant software in the computer of a suspect in a series of bomb threats to Timberline High School in 2007, documents reveal.

The FBI in Seattle created a fake news story on a bogus Seattle Times web page to plant software in the computer of a suspect in a series of bomb threats to Lacey’s Timberline High School in 2007, according to documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in San Francisco.

The deception was publicized Monday when Christopher Soghoian, the principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C., revealed it on Twitter.

In an interview, Soghoian called the incident “outrageous” and said the practice could result in “significant collateral damage to the public trust” if law enforcement begins co-opting the media for its purposes.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2024888170_fbinewspaper1xml.html

[uppityperson]

4. I didn't say trust them, but lying to them is not very smart.

[msanthrope]

7. Yes. Law enforcement can lie. Which is why you invoke your 5th and 6th

amendments and keep your mouth shut if you are in custody.

[Tom Ripley]

8. +1000

[jakeXT]

9. Don't forget to announce it

Fisher says the courts' rulings set a trap for the unwary. The courts said the only exception is if defendants expressly tell police they are invoking their Fifth Amendment rights. Fisher says the rulings affect every kind of criminal case, including white-collar investigations where suspects are often questioned at length before being arrested.

"Under these decisions, somebody in that situation, just as much as the person accused of murder or manslaughter, needs to announce that they are relying on the Fifth Amendment privilege," Fisher says. "It's not enough to simply refuse to talk to police."

http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/10/05/47184/you-have-the-right-to-remain-silent-or-do-you/

[msanthrope]

10. Indeed....invoke both.....you must do so to get a lawyer. nt

[FailureToCommunicate]

3. Good verdict. Tsarnaev's friends knew he was one of the bombers by the time they were questioned...

I hope they all do time.

[billhicks76]

5. FBI Executed Other Friend

Sorry but only a fool believes ANYTHING the FBI says. Whatever they say the opposite is true. Such is the fate of liars.

[FailureToCommunicate]

6. Okay maybe I am a fool, or maybe living in the place where it happened we've payed

Last edited Wed Oct 29, 2014, 11:15 AM - Edit history (1)

attention a bit more, but there were several friends involved in the aftermath and they have stood trial. (The FBI just must not have killed them yet according to you?)

[jakeXT]

13. Their track record was always poor

[billhicks76]

14. Believe Me I Pay Attention

The older brother was a CIA informant. And FBI has a history of provoking these idiots so as to accomplish certain goals. They killed the other MMA fighter when they interviewed him at his home...not these jackasses who were at the apartment. Don't take your eye off the ball...the story isn't about these kids it's about other lies that go much deeper.

[jakeXT]

11. "Better not text me my friend".."Lol".."If yu want yu can go to my room and take what’s there."

One series of text exchanges goes to the heart of why Kadyrbayev is accused of obstructing the investigation. Around 8:45 p.m. on April 18, shortly after the FBI released photos of the suspected bombers, Kadyrbayev asks Tsarnaev, “u saw the news?” After acknowledging that he did, Tsarnaev said, “Better not text me my friend,” adding, “Lol.”

When Kadyrbayev replies, “u saw urself in there?” and added “ahaha” and then “hahaha,” Tsarnaev responds, “If yu want yu can go to my room and take what’s there.”

About 10 that night, Kadyrbayev sent a text to Phillipos, “come to Jahar’s!!”

The three friends were at the dorm room that night, and, according to the indictment, Kadyrbayev found Tsarnaev’s backpack, containing some manipulated fireworks, as well as his laptop.

He took these items, and they headed for the New Bedford apartment. There, Kadyrbayev, with Tazhayakov’s knowledge, allegedly threw the backpack in a dumpster.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/05/15/testimony-delayed-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-friend/f7MtvIk1BE0zjjz9LAPpfM/story.html

[FLPanhandle]

12. Being "high on marijuana" wasn't a good defense for lying to the FBI

Especially in a case of terrorism with innocent people and children murdered.

Frankly, he can rot in jail.

[billhicks76]

15. Tsarnaevs Throat

Why did they give him a tracheotomy on the scene when they captured him. Has he been able to speak to any press to contradict the governments story?

[Ash_F]

16. Sweet! Now they have time..

to finally charge some of the people who lied to agents in the federal investigation I initiated two years ago!







*crickets*

Oh right, the perps were rich and the victims were poor in our case. Forgot