Robel Phillipos was found guilty by 12 jurors of lying about his whereabouts and observations in the Boston Bombing.
According to the Boston Globe, the 21-year-old attended Cambridge Rindge, Latin High School and University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with Tsarnaev. He is one of three Tsarnaev friends charged with interfering with the investigation of the bombing.
He is not charged with handling the backpack used in the bombing but is charged with lying about what he saw that night.
According to prosecutors, Phillipos lied about being in Tsarnaev’s dorm room and seeing the backpack being removed. But his attorneys claim he was high on marijuana that night and could not accurately recall the events.
Phillipos faces two counts of making false statements during two interviews and if he’s convicted of lying, jurors also have to figure out whether his false statements involved a terrorism investigation. And if that’s the case, the max prison time increases to eight years from five years.
