3 Students Arrested In Boston Marathon Bombing

Three college friends of accused Boston Marathon bomber  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were arrested Wednesday for removing a backpack with fireworks emptied of gunpowder from his dorm room following the attack.

Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, and Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice. A third man, 19-year-old Robel Phillipos, was charged with lying to investigators about the visit to Tsarnaev's room.

Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev, who also removed a laptop from the room, are Kazakhstan nationals who entered the U.S. on student visas. If convicted, they face five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Phillipos faces eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Boston Police Department initially announced the arrests Wednesday morning via its Twitter feed. The three men attende the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth with Tsarnaev.