BOSTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Massachusetts), published as received.
BOSTON – A Quincy man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Boston today to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for obstructing the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings.
“In this case our investigation succeeded despite Matanov’s lies to law enforcement,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “He should have helped instead of hindered, and assisted instead of obstructed. The cost of this conduct is 30 months in federal prison.”
“During an ongoing terrorism investigation, Khairullozhon Matanov repeatedly and intentionally lied to the FBI about his knowledge of the Tsarnaev brothers’ activities in the hours and days immediately following the bombings,” said Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division. “His actions resulted in the diversion of critical manpower at a time when we did not have the resources to spare. The FBI hopes this case sends a strong warning to others that misleading law enforcement will not be tolerated.”
In March 2015, Khairullozhon Matanov, 24, of Quincy, pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying, concealing, and covering up a material fact in a federal investigation and three counts of making materially false statements in a federal investigation.
After the FBI released photos of the suspected bombers, Matanov realized that federal agents would likely want to talk with him because of his ties to them, especially his contact with the Tsarnaev brothers during the week following the bombings. Consequently, Matanov took steps to impede the FBI’s investigation into the extent of his friendship, contact, and communication with the Tsarnaevs, and into any information and views he held related to terrorism and the Tsarnaevs. Matanov deleted information from his computer, some of which contained violent content or calls to violence, and made multiple false statements to federal investigators and others. Those acts delayed and extended the bombing investigation by causing the FBI to expend additional resources in restoring and analyzing Matanov’s computer deletions and investigating his shifting and conflicting stories.
U.S. Attorney Ortiz, FBI SAC Lisi, and Lowell Police Superintendent William Taylor, made the announcement today. This investigation was conducted by members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is also composed of officers from other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Assistance in the investigation was also provided by the Boston, Braintree, Waltham, and Quincy Police Departments; the Massachusetts State Police; Customs and Border Protection; Naval Criminal Investigative Service; and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott L. Garland and Aloke S. Chakravarty of Ortiz’s Anti-Terrorism and National Security Unit.
