HOUSE ARREST

Dzhokhar’s Friend Freed From Custody

Awaits trial for lying to bombing investigators.

Prosecutors have said that Robel Phillipos, a friend of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, can be freed from jail on $100,000 bail on the condition that he be placed under house arrest and wear a monitoring ankle bracelet while awaiting trial. Phillipos, 19, was arrested by the feds last week for lying to investigators about the disposal of Tsarnaev’s belongings—a backpack containing emptied fireworks and his computer—after Tsarnaev was named a suspect. In affidavits, Phillipos’s friends and attorney claim he was “frightened and confused” when questioned by the FBI. Two other friends, Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov, were also charged last week with conspiring to obstruct justice in removing items from Tsarnaev’s dorm room after the bombing.