BOSTON (Reuters) - A high school friend of the accused Boston Marathon bomber charged with possessing a gun that prosecutors believe may have been used by the suspects in the 2013 attack may change his plea in the case to guilty, according to a court filing.
Stephen Silva was charged in July with having possessed a Ruger P95 9mm pistol with its serial number filed off, as well as with conspiracy to distribute heroin. He pleaded not guilty in an August hearing but may be planning to file a new agreement this week, according to papers filed with the U.S. District Court in Boston late Monday.
Silva has not been charged with playing any role in the deadly April 15, 2013, attack, in which prosecutors contend brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev killed three people and injured more than 260 when they set off a pair of homemade bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Prosecutors also contend the two brothers shot and killed a university police officer three days later as they prepared to flee the city and went on to engage in a gunbattle with police in Watertown, Massachusetts, that ended in Tamerlan's death.
Silva is charged with having possessed - two months earlier - a gun recovered at the site of that fight, his lawyer has said. Silva is not charged with having played a role in that gunbattle either.
Silva is due in court on Friday, according to court papers. His attorney could not be reached for immediate comment on Tuesday.
The surviving bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, is due to appear in court on Thursday for a final pretrial conference ahead of the January start of his trial on charges of carrying out the bombing.
He faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Susan Heavey)