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U.S. federal authorities on Thursday indicted two friends of the accused Boston Marathon bomber, for charges of obstructing justice.
A federal grand jury indicted Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both 19 and nationals of Kazakhstan of "conspiracy to obstruct justice" and "obstructing justice with intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation," said the U.S. Attorney 's office for Massachusetts.
If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction of justice count and up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count, as well as a fine of 250,000 dollars. Both also face the possibility of being deported.
Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were detained and originally charged in May via criminal complaint.
Prosecutors alleged that the two young men and another conspirator worked together on April 18 to retrieve accused bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's laptop computer and backpack containing fireworks from his dormitory room and discard it in the garbage outside their apartment building.
The two men were living on student visas in New Bedford, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
The FBI identified two brothers, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev and 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev, as suspects behind the Boston bombings which killed three and wounded over 200 in April.
Tamerlan died after a shootout with the police four days after the bombing while Dzhokar was apprehended in a suburb of Boston following massive manhunt by law enforcement authorities.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev made his first public appearance in court in July and pleaded not guilty to 30 charges for his alleged role in the Boston Marathon bombings.
