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U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged three men with interfering with the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing, saying they hid fireworks and a backpack belonging to one of the suspected bombers as a manhunt was under way, Reuters reported. 

The three, two students from Kazakhstan and a U.S. citizen, were described as college friends of surviving bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. They were not charged with direct involvement in the April 15 marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured 264.

But three days after the blasts, the trio moved swiftly to cover up for their friend when the FBI released pictures of the suspected bombers, made a public plea for help locating them and conducted a day-long manhunt that left much of Boston on lockdown, according to court papers.

Authorities charged the two Kazakhs, Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, both 19, with conspiring to obstruct justice by disposing of a backpack containing fireworks they found in Tsarnaev's dorm room. The third man, Robel Phillipos, also 19, was charged with making false statements to investigators.

In their initial court appearances on Wednesday, none of the three entered a plea. After the proceeding, an attorney for Kadyrbayev denied wrongdoing.

"Dias Kadyrbayev absolutely denies the charges," said attorney Robert Stahl. "He did not know that this individual was involved in the bombing. His first inkling came much later."

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to five years in prison and Phillipos faces a maximum sentence of eight years.