Pictured: Sister of suspected Boston Marathon bomber appears in court charged with dealing marijuana



Sister Bella Tsarnaeva arrested before the April attack in Boston



Authorities say she has no connection to terrorist attack



Bella and boyfriend both indicted on drug charges but may avoid jail

A sister of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers appeared in a New Jersey court on Monday to face drug possession and distribution charges.

Bella Tsarnaeva appeared in Superior Court in Hackensack, New Jersey, on marijuana charges after she was arrested in December 2012, just months before her brothers allegedly targeted the Boston Marathon in an attack that killed three people.

Police had responded to a call to Tsarnaeva's Fairview home in response to domestic violence call and arrested her and boyfriend Ahmad Khalil after smelling marijuana coming from the apartment they shared.

Bella Tsarnaeva, the sister of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, appeared in court in New Jersey on drug possession and distribution charges

Authorities say Tsarnaeva has not been implicated in the bombing that took place in downtown Boston on April 15, 2013.

Tsarnaeva and Khalil pleaded not guilty last May when they made their first appearance in court to answer the drug charges.

NJ.com reported that Bergen County prosecutors believed Tsarnaeva will be admitted to a pretrial intervention program.



The case was adjourned until next month while prosecutors and attorneys worked out a plea deal for her co-defendant.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, left, was captured after a manhunt that shut down much of the city. His older brother Tamerlan, right, was killed in the chaotic aftermath of the bombing



Bella, 24, is one of two middle sisters of the suspected bombers.



Her younger sister Alina, 22, told reporters in the aftermath of last April's attack that 'I’m sorry for all the people who are hurt and for all the people who lost their lives... no one is okay right now… I’m hurt for everyone who has been hurt. I’m sorry for all the people who are hurt and for all the people who lost their lives.'

Eldest son Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a chaotic shootout with police after a long manhunt for the suspects that also saw university police officer Sean Collier, 26, shot to death.



Youngest brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, aged 19 at the time of the attack, was captured the following day after he was found hiding in a boat parked in a backyard of the Watertown district of Boston.



He is now facing terrorism charges that carry the death penalty.