Quincy Man Charged with Helping Marathon Bombers Scared of Prison, Lawyer Says

A Quincy cab driver appeared in federal court Friday afternoon on charges he withheld information about the Boston Marathon bombing suspects during a five-day manhunt.

Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, was charged with lying to investigators and destroying evidence.

A judge at Boston's federal courthouse ordered Matanov held without bail, Fox 25 reported. He didn't enter a plea.

Read the indictment against Matanov

Authorities said Matanov was friends with bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He allegedly had dinner with the pair hours after the bombings. When authorities released the suspects' photos, Matanov allegedly lied to investigators about his friendship with the pair and deleted information from his computer.

"Matanov allegedly ... took a series of steps to impede the FBI’s investigation into the extent of his friendship, contact, and communication with the suspected bombers," U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement. "He shared the suspected bombers’ philosophical justification for violence."

Matanov's public defender, Edward Hayden, told WHDH/7News, "He is concerned about what prison is going to be like, it may be rough here but it's a lot rougher in Kyrgyzstan and that's what he's thinking he may be facing right now."

Matanov was not charged with planning or helping carry out the attack.

Matanov, a Kyrgyzstan citizen, entered the U.S. legally in 2010, according to authorities. He has lived in Massachusetts and worked as a cab driver.

FBI officers broke open the door to Matanov's apartment on Common Street in Quincy early Friday morning. He was a driver for Braintree Checker Cab, according to WHDH.

In addition to Matanov, three of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's friends were also charged with helping the suspects evade police.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is set to go on trial in November. His brother was killed in a gunfight with law enforcement.