A terrorist conviction has led to the revocation of his funds for pandemic relief in order to pay more than $100 millions in penalty fees incurred following the bombing.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was one of the two Boston Marathon attackers.
The government issued a check last summer to the Kyrgyz-American 28-year old as part of an effort to boost those financially impacted by Covid-19. However, on Wednesday a federal court approved a request from Nathaniel Mendell by the US Attorney to remove Tsarnaev’s funds.
Convicted in 2015 on 30 counts for the bombing – including using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death – Tsarnaev was ordered to pay in excess of $100 million in restitution, though has only contributed a meager $2,200 so far, prosecutors say. He also stated that Tsarnaev has almost $4,000 currently in his Florence supermax prison trust account. However, few of these payments have been made to family members of the victims and those who were injured. “gifts”among others, for his siblings.
“The United States submits that the requested relief is reasonable and appropriate in this instance, especially in light of [Tsarnaev] prioritizing payments to his siblings over the victims of his crimes,”Mendell stated in his filing.
A federal judge granted the request, ordering that all funds in Tsarnaev’s account be passed to the clerk of the court, and ultimately to victims and their families, according to a Boston CBS affiliate.
Tsarnaev received a death sentence, but he appealed, which led to a court to revoke the sentence in July 2020. However, Tsarnaev will still be in prison throughout his entire life, due to the severity and number of the charges against him.
Dzokhar’s older brother Tamerlan, 26 at the time of the bombing, was killed by police after the two fled following the incident, prompting a four-day manhunt across Boston involving thousands of law enforcement personnel. One of the officers was also shot to death by the Tsarnaevs. Another died from injuries sustained in confronting the brothers a year later.
[ad_2]
