Defense team plans to appeal Tsarnaev friend's guilty verdict
Azamat Tazhayakov accused of removing items from dorm
The defense team for a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who convicted Monday of impeding the investigation into the attack is planning an appeal of the verdict.
Azamat Tazhayakov was accused of agreeing with another friend, Dias Kadyrbayev, to take a backpack containing opened fireworks and other items from Tsarnaev's college dorm room.
The jury found Tazhayakov guilty on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice for removing a backpack from the dorm room, but not a computer.
Tazhayakov's mother sobbed loudly in the courtroom as the jury's decision was read. Tazhayakov faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in October.
Juror Daniel Antonio, 49, said the panel heavily debated the charges but followed the law carefully.
"They took materials from that room that they never should have touched, and that's what he is going to pay the price for," said Antonin, who works in sales in the health care industry.
Tazhayakov's attorney Matthew Myers called the verdict surprising, adding that it's tough to get an unbiased jury in the "culture of a bombed city."
Myers said he would push for a lenient sentence. His team plans to appeal the verdict.
"We understand that the judge is under a certain amount of pressure in the case to put it to this defendant because of the backdrop of the case," Myers said.
"We are tremendously gratified with the jury's decision," U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Capin said Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev removed the backpack hours after the FBI released images of Tsarnaev and his brother as suspects in the 2013 marathon attack, in which two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260.
But Myers said he was a naive college kid who was prosecuted because he was a "friend of the bomber."
Kadyrbayev will be tried separately in September. Another Robel Phillipos, who is charged with lying to investigators, also faces a separate trial.
Tsarnaev is awaiting a November trial and faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
They all have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, carried out the bombings and killed an MIT police officer days later.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a shootout with police the night the officer was killed. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured hiding in a boat in a Watertown backyard.