Kazakhstani nationals Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, and Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, were earlier charged with conspiring to obstruct justice and the third man, a U.S. citizen named Robel Phillipos, was charged with making false statements to investigators.
Two of the men were university classmates of 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who last week was criminally charged with planting homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon finish line on April 15 along with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Papers filed in federal court said authorities charged tTazhayakov and Kadyrbayev with throwing away a backpack containing fireworks and a laptop computer belonging to alleged bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Tsarnaev, who attended the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, is being held at a prison hospital where he is recovering from gunshot wound sustained in a gun battle with police. His older brother died in the gunfight.
Last week law enforcement officials were seen searching dumps in southeastern Massachusetts.
Kadyrbayev's lawyer said his client was being held for violations of his student visa.
The lawyer, Robert Stahl, said his client was "not a target" of the bombing investigation, but declined to comment on any other specifics. He said his client had "cooperated fully" with investigators and "wants to go home to Kazakhstan."
The parents of the Tsarnaev brothers have said in interviews in the North Caucasus region of Russia that they do not believe their sons were responsible for placing the bombs.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body has still not been claimed, a spokesman for the state's chief medical examiner said. His widow, Katherine Russell, on Tuesday said she wanted the medical examiner to release her husband's body to his family.
Source: Chicago Tribune
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