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Mike Dukakis: Petraeus didn’t go to jail for lying, so neither should Tsarnaev’s friend

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis testified in support of Robel Phillipos last October. AP/Stephan Savoia

By Eric Levenson @ejleven

June 5, 2015

2 minutes to read

Former Gov. Michael Dukakis offered a letter of support on behalf of family friend Robel Phillipos, a friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who was found guilty of lying to investigators.

Dukakis’s argument? Four-star general and former CIA director David Petraeus lied to the FBI and revealed classified documents, and he was punished with just probation and a fine. Therefore, less consequential lying, like Phillipos’s crimes, should not result in prison time.

He writes:

We have had two cases recently in which people far more experienced and far more important than Robel have been guilty of the same offense of lying to the FBI, and neither one of them has or will do a day’s worth of time in jail. One was a former Boston police officer involved with a drug dealer for whom he covered up. The other was a four-star general who gave his mistress important government secret, classified information, and then lied to the FBI about it.

The “four-star general’’ here refers to Petraeus, who resigned amid accusations of an affair. He pleaded guilty to two years of probation for leaking classified information to his lover, Paula Broadwell. The Boston Police officer is a reference to Mel Steele, who was sentenced to one year of probation for lying to the FBI about providing information to a gang member.

Dukakis, a friend of Phillipos’s mother, provided surprise testimony for Phillipos’s defense during his trial. The two families were friends, and Dukakis took a young Phillipos to the Democratic National Convention in 2004. In court, the former governor testified that he spoke to a “confused’’ Phillipos on April 20, 2013, and he told him to call his mother.

Prosecutors argued that Phillipos intentionally lied to investigators about where he was, and what he saw, when he and two friends visited the Boston Marathon bomber’s dorm room three days after the explosions. Those two friends — Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev — were charged with obstruction of justice for removing a backpack and laptop from the room and later tossing the backpack in the garbage.

Phillipos was accused of making false statements to the FBI on April 20 and April 25 of 2013, after the Tsarnaev brothers had been captured. His defense argued that he was a scared and confused 19-year-old who was “high out of his mind’’ at the time.

A jury found him guilty of both charges. He is due to be sentenced Friday afternoon.

In his support letter, Dukakis writes that Phillipos’s crimes had minimal damage.

“It is obvious that he did not take part in removing or discarding potential evidence,’’ he writes. “In short, he did nothing that contributed in any way to the ability of the FBI to pursue those accused of committing the Marathon bombing or seeking to hide any evidence in the case.’’

Dukakis also says Phillipos, a “bright and lively boy,’’ still has a bright future ahead of him.

“Robel is a young man who could and should have a great future ahead of him,’’ Dukakis writes. “For the life of me, I can’t understand why justice would be served by incarcerating him.’’