Robel Phillipos found guilty of lying to investigators during Marathon bombing investigation

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com/AP) – A jury agreed with prosecutors that a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told a string of lies to investigators.

After six days of deliberating, Robel Phillipos, of Cambridge, was found guilty on Tuesday on both counts of lying to investigators about being in Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth while two other friends removed a backpack containing fireworks and other potential evidence several days after the April 15, 2013, attack. Two bombs placed near the marathon finish line killed three people and injured more than 260.

He is facing up to 16 years in prison. A judge will decide his sentencing on January 29th at 2:30 p.m. Phillipos will be held under house arrest until that time.

Phillipos' defense had been that he had smoked marijuana at least a half dozen times that day and was unable to recall many of his activities when he was questioned by the FBI days later. His attorney, Derege Demissie, said Phillipos sat in Tsarnaev's dorm room passively watching TV that night, adding that he never saw the backpack or the fireworks and did not see his friends remove the items.

Though the jury found Phillipos guilty of lying to investigators, they rejected his his written confession presented by the prosecution. Defense Attorneys Susan Church and Derege Demissie said they were "encouraged" by this finding, saying that they would be filing an appeal.

According to Church and Demissie, the fact that all of Phillipos statements to investigators were made after the Tsarnaev's arrest and after the searching of Tsarnaev's room, they believe that there is a materiality issue with the case. "Just being in a room may not affect any kind of conduct," the defense attorneys said.

"This is a young man with no record who had the very unfortunate circumstance of being found out that one of his friends from high school was a bomber," Defense Attorney Church said. "I believe that would be shocking and dismaying to anybody."

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said she was really gratified with the verdict.

“Thousands of ordinary citizens assisted law enforcement in identifying and locating the alleged perpetrators,” Ortiz said. “Today, a federal jury concluded that Robel Phillipos did just the opposite.  He lied to agents when he could have helped. He concealed when he could have assisted.”

“Mr. Phillipos's false statements and irresponsible actions seriously impeded the law enforcement terrorism investigation that was going on at that time and our ability to strictly catch those responsible,” said Kieran L. Ramsey, the FBI Boston office's acting special agent in charge. “Make no mistake by this jury's verdict, today justice was served.”

Phillipos attended high school in Cambridge with Tsarnaev and later attended UMass-Dartmouth with him.

Prosecutors say Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, planted two pressure-cooker bombs near the marathon finish line. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a shootout with police several days after the bombing.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges and is scheduled to go on trial in January. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Cox Media Group