Azamat Tazhayakov: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Friend Jailed for Boston Bombing Cover-Up

osAzamat Tazhayakov, has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail for obstructing police after Boston Marathon bombings.

Azamat Tazhayakov, a Kazakh exchange student, tearfully apologized on June 5 for removing a backpack containing fireworks from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s room.

He denounced the Boston bomber’s actions, which killed three and injured 264 at the finishing line of the marathon in 2013.

In 2014, Azamat Tazhayakov was convicted of obstruction of justices.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s three friends went into his dormitory to collect the evidence, a backpack and a laptop.

One of them, Dias Kadyrbayev, took the lead in removing the items, texting with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as he did so, while the two other friends, including Azamat Tazhayakov and American Robel Phillipos, stood by and assisted, according to reports from the Boston Globe.

Dias Kadyrbayev pleaded guilty in 2014 to removing the backpack from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s room and was sentenced on June 2 to six years in prison.

Judge Douglas Woodlock said: “There is no question that this was a very serious offence, the failure to act properly when confronted with the devastating event.”

Azamat Tazhayakov said the decision to bomb the Boston marathon “made him sick”. His father wept as he apologized.

Robel Phillipos was sentenced to three years in prison on June 5 for lying to investigators.

The three friends all attended the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Judge Douglas Woodlock said he thought Dias Kadrybayev was “most culpable” of the three friends.

The authorities are not claiming that Robel Phillipos, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev were aware of the Boston Marathon bombing before it happened.