A federal jury on Monday found a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of obstructing the investigation into the 2013 attack . The jury found Azamat Tazhayakov guilty of obstructing justice and conspiring to obstruct justice , in connection with the removal of a backpack with potential evidence from Tsarnaev 's dorm room after the bombings . Jurors indicated in a verdict questionnaire that they did n't believe a separate allegation -- involving the removal of a laptop computer from the same dorm room -- amounted to obstruction or conspiracy . But his attorneys said they 'll appeal the verdict , maintaining that a different defendant was the one who removed the backpack and put it into a garbage bin , and that the jury was under pressure by a community upset by the bombings to find Tazhayakov guilty . `` He never took a backpack out of the dormitory . ... We will certainly push that the evidence , and my client 's intent did not match up with the actions of the case , '' Tazhayakov attorney Mathew Myers told reporters Monday . Sentencing for Tazhayakov , who could get up to 25 years in prison , is scheduled for October . The verdict came in the first trial related to the April 15 , 2013 , bombings that killed three people and injured more than 200 others . Tazhayakov 's mother wept loudly in court when the verdict was read . Tazhayakov spoke briefly to his parents before he was escorted out of the courtroom . Prosecutors accused Tazhayakov and his roommate , fellow Kazakh national Dias Kadyrbayev , of trying to protect Tsarnaev three days after the bombings by removing a backpack and a laptop from Tsarnaev 's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth , which Tazhayakov also attended . Prosecutors alleged that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov took the laptop to their apartment , and that Kadyrbayev , with Tazhayakov 's knowledge , tossed the backpack in a trash bin . Authorities eventually found the backpack -- containing Vaseline , a thumb drive and fireworks -- in a landfill . Kadyrbayev is awaiting trial on the same charges and has pleaded not guilty . Another friend , Robel Phillipos , pleaded not guilty to making false statements . None of Tsarnaev 's friends is accused in the bomb plot itself . Prosecutors : Friends knew suspects ' identities before public . Prosecutors told jurors Tazhayakov knew the identity of the suspected bombers -- Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev -- before the public found out , allegedly texting Kadyrbayev , `` i think they got his brother , '' hours before the public knew their names or their relationship to one another . The friends recognized the Tsarnaev brothers after authorities released video and still photos asking for the public 's helping finding the two men , prosecutors said . Kadyrbayev told his friends that he believed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev `` used the Vaseline 'to make bombs , ' or words to that effect , '' an indictment against him reads . The government said Tsarnaev texted Kadyrbayev after the bombings and told him he could go to his dorm room and take what he wanted . Kadyrbayev showed that text to Tazhayakov , the government alleged . Authorities alleged that the friends picked up the backpack and the laptop from Tsarnaev 's dorm room on April 18 , 2013 , shortly before Tsarnaev was taken into custody . The FBI interviewed the friends as part of the bombing investigation , and lawyers for Tazhayakov said he did everything he could to help the probe when he spoke with investigators . Based on that information , authorities found Tsarnaev 's backpack in the landfill , his attorneys said . Juror : Friends were 'getting rid of evidence ' Daniel Antonino , one of the jurors in Tazhayakov 's case , said the panel found him guilty of obstruction because `` the backpack was simply taken and discarded like they were getting rid of evidence . '' `` They just threw it in the trash , so that 's obstructing justice . Just taking it from the dorm room , we felt , was obstructing justice , '' Antonino said . Antonino said the jury did n't feel the same way about the laptop , because `` they did n't destroy it , '' and because jurors felt the friends saw the laptop as something they should take for its potential monetary value . Antonino cited Tsarnaev 's alleged text to Kadyrbayev , inviting him to take what he wanted . Myers , Tazhayakov 's attorney , said his client was being unfairly punished for what Kadyrbayev is alleged to have done . The only thing Tazhayakov took from Tsarnaev 's room , Myers said , was a pair of headphones that rightfully belonged to him . `` I understand we 've spoken about pronouns in this case : 'They did this , they did that . ' ( But ) my client did not leave that dorm room with a backpack , '' Myers said . `` He can only control what people do to a certain extent . ... 'They ' did not do anything . `` Dias Kadyrbayev went and took that backpack to a Dumpster . My client was n't part of that . How a jury claims that my client had intent to do that with Dias , I guess , is a misconstruing of the plain evidence . '' Myers said his team also would object to the court 's verdict questionnaire , which asked for both charges whether Tazhayakov should be found guilty because of the backpack , the laptop or both . Myers said the jurors might have thought that saying no to the laptop was significant -- perhaps thinking they were giving Tazhayakov a break -- when in fact it did no such thing . `` We knew that could be misleading to the jury , '' Myers said . Dzhokhar Tsarnaev awaits trial , having pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges tied to the bombing and the subsequent pursuit of him and his brother , Tamerlan . Tamerlan Tsarnaev died in a shootout with police days after the bombing . Boston bombing suspect 's lawyers : We want trial moved away , to Washington . Prosecutors : Tsarnaevs used Christmas lights to make bomb fuses .
Defense : Azamat Tazhayakov guilty of fraud relating to backpack . Prosecutors said Tazhayakov helped theft of the Tsarnaev 's items . Defense attorney : Different friend , not Tazhayakov , took part . His lawyers said he did everything he could to avoid the FBI .