BOSTON (AP) - A friend of one of the Boston Marathon bombers pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of lying to the FBI.
Khairullozhon Matanov appeared Tuesday in federal court in Boston for a change of plea hearing. He had been charged with covering up material facts in a federal investigation, and making a false statement, among other charges.
Matanov was a close friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's and an acquaintance of his younger brother, Dzhokhar. Matanov, a cab driver in Quincy, reportedly invited the brothers out and bought them dinner on Monday, April 15, 2013, the evening after the Boston Marathon bombings.
Prosecutors say Matanov deceived authorities when questioned about his relationship with Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the days after the April 2013 bombings. Tamerlan died after a gunfight with police.
Matanov had been charged with lying and with deleting information from his computer.
He will be sentenced June 18.
His lawyer has not said if Matanov plans to testify in the ongoing death penalty trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Matanov's lawyers say he went to police voluntarily.
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