© 2024 WUKY
background_fid.jpg
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

UPDATED: Bombing Suspect's Friend Ordered Freed On Bail

This courtroom sketch shows defendant Robel Phillipos appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., on May 1.
Jane Flavell Collins
/
AP
This courtroom sketch shows defendant Robel Phillipos appearing in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Mass., on May 1.

Update at 3:13 p.m. ET. Phillipos Freed:

Robel Phillipos, who was arrested last week for allegedly lying to federal agents investigating the Boston Marathon bombings, was ordered released on $100,000 bail, pending a trial.

Reuters reports:

"While out on bail, Robel Phillipos will be under the custody of his mother and wearing a GPS bracelet, U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler ordered in federal court in Boston."

Our Original Post Continues:

Robel Phillipos, who was arrested last week for allegedly lying to federal agents investigating the Boston Marathon bombings, can be released on bond, prosecutors said this afternoon.

As we've reported, authorities say Phillipos of Cambridge, Mass., and two other 19-year-old friends of suspected bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, played a role in discarding evidence after the blasts took place.

The Boston Globe reports:

"Federal prosecutors said last week they wanted to detain Phillipos because they believed he posed a serious risk of flight.

"But in a document filed by today Phillipos's attorney, Derege B. Demissie, and US Attorney Carmen Ortiz's office, both said they had agreed on a plan to release Phillipos from custody. Under the plan, Phillipos would be under home confinement at a home other than his own, he would wear a monitoring ankle bracelet, and post a secured bond worth $100,000."

The New York Times reports that a federal judge is expected to rule on that motion at an afternoon hearing.

The other two friends — Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, both nationals of Kazakhstan — are due in court May 14.

We'll update this post once Phillipos appears before a judge.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.