[UPDATE]: A detention hearing for Matanov is set for 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 4. He also told the court he understands his rights but cannot afford an attorney.
A fifth man has been charged in connection to the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday morning.
The man, 23-year old Khairullozhon Matanov of Quincy, has been charged with one count of destroying, altering, and falsifying records, documents, and tangible objects in a federal investigation, specifically information on his computer, and three counts of making materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements in a federal terrorism investigation.
[UPDATE]: According to the indictment (see: below), Matanov is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan but has lived in Massachusetts since 2010. He worked, among other jobs, as a taxi cab driver.
Matanov supposedly met Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older brother of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who’s currently charged with orchestrating the domestic attack and detonating the dual pressure cooker bombs, and the two became friends bonding over religious fascinations.
The indictment notes further that Matanov was in contact with both Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, and saw Tamerlan at least twice, in the days and hours prior to the bombings.
Eerily, Matanov called the brothers just 40 minutes after the bombing and took them out to dinner that night.
According to the press release (see: below), Matanov attempted to obstruct the FBI investigation into the infamous incident by deleting information from his computer and making false statements to investigators. US Attorney Carmen Ortiz’s (see correction below) office made it clear, though, that Matanov is not being charged with participating in the bombings or having any prior knowledge of them beforehand.
The office alleges that Matanov made his moves once the FBI released photos of the purported bombers, as he knew the authorities would want to speak with him. He also supposedly shares the bombing suspect’s “philosophical justification for violence.”
The timing of the new charges against a Quincy man charged with obstruction in marathon case will certainly be a subject of debate in court
— David Frank (@davidfrankmlw) May 30, 2014
The feds said last year that the marathon investigation was ongoing. Today’s new charges prove that they meant what they said
— David Frank (@davidfrankmlw) May 30, 2014
I certainly expect prosecutors to ask a judge to detain Quincy man charged with obstruction in the #marathon case at today’s hearing
— David Frank (@davidfrankmlw) May 30, 2014
Matanov faces up to 20 years in prison should he be found guilty of destroying any evidence, as well as eight years apiece for each false statement he relayed to the FBI. All four counts also carry the weight of three years maximum of supervised release , and a fine of $250,000.
Matanov is expected to be in court Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., at which point further details of his court proceedings will be outlined.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to BostInno for further details on the matter, as we’ll be sure to keep you updated once more information becomes available.
Indictment against Khairullozhon Matanov
U.S. Attorney General’s Office press release for Khairullozhon Matanov
