Robel Phillipos Pleads Not Guilty: Kate Russell's Parents Testify

On September 13, Robel Phillipos, the third friend of Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to appear in front of Federal Magistrate Marianne Bowler, pled “Not Guilty” at Moakley Federal Courthouse.

Tsarnaev faces the possibility of the death penalty for the bombing, which killed three and injured over 260 people. Three of his friends were also indicted for allegedly lying to investigators and trying to cover up his role after the bombings, according to a grand jury indictment filed August 29. They are accused of throwing away a backpack containing fireworks and removing a laptop computer from Tsarnaev’s dorm room at UMass Dartmouth. Phillipos is alleged to have concealed from the FBI the fact that the three men had gone into Tsarnaev’s room. Phillipos, who was interrogated without a lawyer present, was charged by the grand jury of making “numerous false and misleading statements to the agents.” 

All three face 20 years in federal prison and could be fined $250,000.

Robel Phillipos, a Cambridge resident and US citizen, is being held on home confinement while Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, who were foreign students from Kazakhstan, await trial under conditions of 24 hour isolation in prison. Tazhayakov’s family was in court during the brief arraignment. The family plans to remain in the United States until the case is resolved.

All three teenagers were scheduled to appear together in court at 10am but only Kadyrbayev and Phillipos arrived there on time. Azamat Tazhayakov's attorney was delayed on a train from New York when a tree fell across the tracks, so his hearing took place at 2pm. Despite the fact that he was late due to circumstances beyond his control, the attorney received a harsh verbal rebuke from Judge Bowler, who had wanted the three to be heard as a group. 

According to US District Attorney spokeswoman Christina Dilorio-Sterling, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov, who already pled Not Guilty last month, will not face any new charges, but their indictment has changed to include Phillipos.

Phillipos’ attorneys Derege Demissie and Susan Church stated that Phillipos had nothing to do whatsoever with the Boston Marathon bombing or destroying any evidence. In the end, it will be clear that this prosecution should never have been brought in the first place.” 

Kadyrbayev's attorney Robert Stahl describes his client as "a law-abiding college student whose only crime was befriending a fellow student who spoke his more comfortable native language." 

Tazhayakov’s attorney, Nicholas Wooldridge, said the government “rushed into things” in prosecuting his client. Tazhayakov’s family believe he is being "scapegoated," according to attorney Arkady Bukh.

"If he wanted to assist in terrorism, he would have hid the computer," Bukh said, adding that he gave the computer to investigators as soon as they asked for it.

“This is a witch hunt,” Wooldridge told reporters. 

All three friends are due back in court Oct. 29 for a status conference.

The day before, on September 12, the in-laws of Tamerlan Tsarnaev testified in front of a grand jury. Tamerlan is the brother who was killed in a shootout with Boston police. Judith and Warren Russell, parents of Tamerlan’s widow, Katherine Russell appeared after being subpoenaed to testify. Josh Dratel, a lawyer who represents Katherine Russell and her family, said her parents “told the truth.”

“We know that there’s been pressure on law enforcement and the Justice Department in this case. We don’t want her to be scapegoated as a result of that pressure,” Dratel told reporters.

Amato DeLuca, an attorney for Katherine Russell and her family, told reporters she didn’t suspect her husband of anything before the bombings, and nothing seemed strange in the days after. DeLuca said Russell was working 70 to 80 hours per week as a home health aide and had no reason to suspect her husband of anything. Dratel told reporters that the grand jury’s investigation “is not necessarily an investigation of Katherine.”

DeLuca said on Thursday that Russell’s parents also knew nothing about their son-in-law’s alleged involvement  in the bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260, until after he was publicly identified by authorities.

“They don’t know anything. They have no knowledge,” he said. “They met Tamerlan, so I’m sure they’re being asked about his background.”

Russell, 24, is from Rhode Island. She and Tamerlan Tsarnaev met at Suffolk University in Boston. She had converted to Islam and married him at a Boston mosque in June 2010 — against her family’s wishes and advice, said her grandmother. She gave birth to their daughter soon after and dropped out of college.

Russell and her daughter moved into her parents’ Rhode Island home immediately after her husband was killed and her brother-in-law was captured in a massive manhunt that shut down the Boston area. Russell has never been charged with any wrongdoing, but she has been questioned several times and was followed for several weeks after the bombings by federal authorities. Federal officials ended surveillance of her home around the time her brother-in-law was indicted, according to neighbors, reported the Associated Press.

The new head of the FBI in Boston, Vincent B. Lisi, said on September 16 that the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing is ongoing and a priority.

“We owe that to the victims of the bombing,” he said. “Our focus, commitment, is that nobody in our office will rest until we’ve identified everyone that had anything to do with the bombing and make sure they face justice.”

On September 23, family and friends of Sunil Tripathi circulated a heartbreaking statement via social media to commemorate his birthday. Tripathi was found dead in a lake after TV news announced he was the Boston Bomber. Their statement reads:

“We are all thinking of Sunny very much today, as today would have been his 23rd birthday. Today we remember Sunil’s gentleness, his care for others, his desire never to be in the spotlight (yup, we messed up on this one!), his musical talent and passion, his principled stands, his incredible ability to debate abstract philosophical concepts, his hugs, and his deep love and kindness for his family, friends, and strangers alike... Keep reaching out to one another in honor and celebration of Sunil. Remember to always slow down. Turn around and look behind you. Be gentle. Be compassionate. Take care of one another. Lend your hand. We need it. The world needs it. Our family will never be the same, Sunny, without having you close to us. We love and miss you so very much. Happy 23rd birthday, Sunny!”

Khazak Teens Arraigned for Tossing Fireworks in Boston Case

On May 1, 2013, Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation. The two college friends of the surviving bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, are nationals of Kazakhstan who were residing in New Bedford, Massachusetts on student visas. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Stephanie Siegmann and John Capin under Carmen Ortiz.

The Muslim Observer (i.e. yours truly) was at the Moakley Federal Courthouse for the arraignment on August 13. The boys were brought into the courtroom handcuffed. US Marshalls removed their handcuffs for the hearing. They turned around briefly to meet eyes with family and supporters. The thin young Asians, who are being kept in 24 hour isolation, looked nervous but hopeful in their orange jumpsuits. They confirmed that they understood the charges and said “Not Guilty” in response to both counts. Azamat Tazhayakob's parents and siblings were in the front row. 

Judge Marianne Bowler interrupted US Attorney Siegmann while she was talking, in order to tell the Tazhayakoub family that they can't let the baby crawl all over the courtroom. It seemed unnecessarily abrupt, since she was not making any noise. An older sister took the baby outside. The judge then asked Siegmann to repeat the charges, as they exchanged chummy smiles. Siegmann maintained a light, breezy demeanor as she informed the two teens that they face 25 years in prison plus a $250,000 fine and deportation if found guilty. 

They are accused of throwing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s backpack containing fireworks and a jar of Vasoline into a dumpster and taking his laptop after receiving a text suggesting they go to Tsarnaev’s room to “take what’s there,” around the time his face appeared on TV as a wanted suspect. The FBI claims to have found this backpack, conveniently identified by a UMass Dartmouth homework assignment, in a landfill.

Siegmann announced that government prosecutors have 15-20 witnesses, and that the trial is likely to take 2 weeks. The next court date is an "initial status hearing" on Sept. 26. 

Azamat's mother was crying inconsolably on the way out. An Asian woman who observed the hearing told Azamat's father, "Your son is very strong." Azamat's family doesn't speak English well and was not responding to questions. Diaz Kadyrbayev's father was talking through a Russian translator. Both fathers were very well dressed.  

Azamat’s father, Amir Ismagulov owns oil fields in Kazakhstan. Azamat came to the US to study oil engineering so he could work in the family business. Ismagulov insists his son had no knowledge of Tsarnaev’s alleged role in the bombing.

“The entire family feels that the government is scapegoating them because they are Muslims and foreign students,” Tazhayakov’s attorney, Arkady Bukh told reporters. “He is absolutely not guilty. If he wanted to assist in terrorism, he would have hid the computer."

Kadyrbayev's attorney Robert Stahl described his client as "a law-abiding college student whose only crime was befriending a fellow student who spoke his more comfortable native language."

"We look forward to the evidence eventually proving that Dias did not obstruct justice, nor knowingly or intentionally take evidence from Dzohkhar Tsarnaev's dorm room. The FBI recovered all of the items because of Dias' complete cooperation with their investigation," Stahl said. "Dias Kadyrbayev and his family also grieve for the victims' families and want justice for the victims." 

Yet - even if the defendants did remove fireworks from Tsarnaev’s apartment, what does that prove? Since fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts, it would be reasonable to want them to be gone, if you knew the police was likely to stop by. There has been no evidence or federal agency report citing that the fireworks were used in the bombing but rather, were simply found in the suspect’s room. 

“The fireworks devices allegedly found during the investigation... contain limited quantities of explosive or combustible chemical composition designed to deflagrate (burn) rather than detonate like dynamite, TNT or military explosives,” said Julie Heckman, Executive Director of the American Pyrotechnics Association.

"We believe it is virtually impossible to create the level of destruction and devastation caused in Boston with legitimate consumer fireworks and suspect that the investigation will ultimately point toward other materials being responsible for the creation of the deadly pressure cooker bombs," she concluded.

The two former UMass Dartmouth students were originally detained for immigration violations. They were then questioned for 12 hours over two days by the FBI without a lawyer present. Another friend, Robel Phillipos, who is being tried separately, was charged with lying to the FBI. Phillipos could face up to eight years in jail and a $250,000 fine. 

The original criminal complaint against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is based entirely on an unsubstantiated claim made by an FBI agent - which is why his friends are so important to the prosecution. If government prosecutors can get Tsarnaev’s friends to “cooperate,” they no longer need to present any convincing evidence. When the defendants are Muslims accused of Terrorism, very few juries ever question government claims.

Attorney Carmen Ortiz with the same Judge Bowler convicted Tarek Mehanna based on inflammatory rhetoric. To get around the lack of evidence, the government threatened Mehanna’s friends into becoming cooperating witnesses.

She also prosecuted Rezwan Ferdaus, a US citizen who was entrapped by the FBI and sentenced to 17 years. Because Ortiz intimidated him into accepting a plea bargain, there was no trial and therefore no public evidence to support the charges against him.

Ortiz’s usual gameplay links the accused with a vague global Islamic Conspiracy. Court proceedings are conducted in a racist, demeaning way, with expert witnesses giving false testimony. Evan Kohlmann, who narrated Ortiz’s prosecution of Mehanna and Yassin Aref has already testified to Congress regarding the Boston bombing’s link to “al Qaeda.”

The politically ambitious lead US prosecutor was investigated by Congress for “blatant prosecutorial intimidation” when computer hacker Aaron Swartz committed suicide after Ortiz threatened him with 50+ years in prison and a $4 million fine. Judges have reprimanded her for “overkill” using federal charges. Glenn Greenwald contrasted her predatory prosecution of the young and powerless with the “incredible leniency given by Ortiz's office to large companies and executives accused of serious crimes.” 

Attorney Harlan Protass writes in Slate, “Given the heinous nature of the marathon bombing and the international spotlight on the attack, Ortiz must be under enormous pressure to go after Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov with everything she’s got. The Boston community and local law enforcement are probably encouraging her to do so.”