CRIME

Tsarnaev friend to be sentenced for misleading investigators after Boston Marathon bombing

Associated Press
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FILE - In this May 30, 2014, file courtroom sketch, Khairullozhon Matanov, right, stands with attorney Paul Glickman in federal court in Boston, facing obstruction of justice charges in the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings. Matanov who had dinner with the Boston Marathon bombers hours after the 2013 attack was sentenced Thursday, June 18, 2015, to 2½ years in prison for misleading investigators by failing to disclose his contact with the brothers in the days after the bombings and deleting files from his computer. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins, File) (The Associated Press)

In this courtroom sketch, Khairullozhon Matanov is depicted while being sentenced in Federal Court for misleading investigators after the Boston Marathon bombing Thursday, June 18, 2015, in Boston. Matanov, a friend of one Boston Marathon bomber, had dinner with the brothers hours after the attack. He has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for misleading investigators. (Jane Flavell Collins via AP) (The Associated Press)

A friend who had dinner with the Boston Marathon bombers hours after the attack faces a sentence of 2 1/2 years in prison for misleading investigators.

Khairullozhon Matanov (hy-ROO'-luh-zhahn MAH'-tuh-nahf) was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and an acquaintance of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv). He pleaded guilty in March to misleading the FBI after the 2013 bombings by deleting his computer files and failing to disclose contact he had with the brothers.

Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Matanov is expected to be sentenced Thursday to 2 1/2 years in prison, subject to approval by the judge.

The Kyrgyzstan native wasn't accused of knowing about the bombings ahead of time or participating in the attack.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout with police days after the bombings. His brother was convicted and sentenced to death.