Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the convicted Boston Marathon bomber, spent $2,000 on expenses such as gifts, books and support for his siblings instead of making payments he owes to his scores of victims, prosecutors charged in a court filing on Wednesday.
The document listed a number of large deposits to Tsarnaev’s inmate trust account that he failed to report to the court, allegedly violating the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act.
Following Tsarnaev’s conviction in the 2013 terrorist attack that killed three people and injured hundreds more near the Boston Marathon finish line, part of his penalties included a $3,000 special assessment and $101,126,627 in criminal restitution.
Yet so far, he has only paid $2,202.03, instead sending money to third parties such as his family.
After sentencing, deposits to Tsarnaev’s account only became more frequent, prosecutors wrote. Among the larger payments was a $1,400 relief benefit that Tsarnaev got on 22 June.
Between May 2016 and last June, he also received $11,230 from the Office of Federal Defenders of New York. Meanwhile, he has also attracted an outpouring of financial support from individuals.
One person in Indianapolis sent him monthly payments for six years, for a total of $2,555. Another from Bloomfield, New Jersey, contributed $1,450 between 2015 and 2017. Another from Frederick, Maryland, deposited $950 over roughly five years, and a broader swath of 32 others have sent a collective $3,486.60.
In response to the prosecutors’ motion, a US district judge has already authorized the Bureau of Prisons to turn over the funds from Tsarnaev’s account to cover part of his criminal monetary penalties. Near the end of December, Tsarnaev had roughly $3,885.06 in his account.
The Boston bombing was the scene one of the most harrowing terrorist attacks in recent American history. After Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev planted pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon, the world watched as a violent manhunt ensued.
During a gun battle with police, Tamerlan sustained mortal injuries – some of which were inflicted by Dzhokhar, who ran over his brother in a Mercedes SUV.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was later found covered in blood and taken into custody. He was sentenced to death in 2015. An appeals court ruled to overturn the execution in 2020, and the supreme court is now considering whether to reimpose it.
Tsarnaev is currently incarcerated in Colorado’s so-called supermax prison.