Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev's widow still a strict Muslim as she appears in court for traffic charges wearing a hijab

Katherine Russell Tsarnaeva's husband died four days after the attack in a car chase



Four months after the terrorist attack, Tsarnaeva was pulled over and charged with driving with a suspended license, speeding and driving an unregistered motor vehicle

The Boston Marathon bombings killed five and injured hundreds



Tamerlan's brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is expected to face charges in the terrorist attack within the year

The widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev appeared in court Thursday to deal with motor vehicle charges filed following a traffic stop four months after the deadly attack.



Katherine Russell, 24, has never spoken publicly about the April 15 bombings, which authorities say was carried out by her husband and brother-in-law. She has not been charged, although a grand jury looking into the bombings has called her family members to testify as recently as last month.

Russell appeared in Wrentham District Court wearing a hijab, proving that she is still living a strict Muslim life after rumors that her family was pushing her to embrace Christianity again.



She was facing charges of driving with a suspended license, speeding and driving an unregistered motor vehicle. She was stopped by police in Franklin in August.

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Facing the law: Katherine Tsarnaeva, widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, appeared in Wrentham, Massachusetts court Thursday to face traffic charges Life before: Before marrying Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Katherine Russeel wore Westernized clothing and ate at fast food chains but followed her husband as he became more orthodox



The charges of driving with a suspended license and driving an unregistered motor vehicle were dismissed. Russell was found responsible for speeding, which will remain on her driving record. She paid $150 in court costs.



Her lawyer, John St. Cyr, said Russell was stopped at a "traumatic time" in her life and may not have realized her license had been suspended. At the time, she was moving around a lot and couldn't get back to her home in Cambridge to get her mail, St. Cyr said.



Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died following a shootout with police four days after the twin bombings near the marathon finish line, which killed three people and injured more than 260.

When he met future-wife Katherine, she was still wearing Westernized clothing. But when they married she started adhering to his strict Muslim lifestyle, and even gave up fast food like Chipotle. Since his death, Tsarnaeva has been living with her parents in Rhode Island, and they have reportedly been trying to convince her to stop being so strict.



Suspects: Tsarnaeva is the widow of Tamleran Tsarnaev (left) who died in a car chase four days after the Boston Marathon bombings. His brother Dzhokhar (right) will stand trial in the next year



His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty in the bombing and is awaiting trial.



Russell was stopped by Franklin police on Aug. 21 after an officer saw a 1999 Honda Accord with Rhode Island license plates traveling at a high rate of speed. Radar confirmed that the car was going 46 mph in a 30 mph zone, according to a police report.



Russell handed the officer her Massachusetts driver's license but was unable to produce the car's registration. She said the car belonged to her father, Warren Russell, and that she had been living with her parents in North Kingstown, R.I.



Their plan: Police believe the Tsarnaev brothers triggered explosives at the finish line of the Boston Marathon last April, which killed five and injured hundreds

Records at the time showed the car was unregistered, but a spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles on Thursday blamed that on a data entry error.



A computer check during the stop also showed that Russell's driver's license, which was under the name Katherine Tsarnaeva, had been suspended for three "surchargable events."

