Friend of Alleged Charleston Shooter to Plead Guilty to Lying to FBI

Joseph Meek, Jr., the childhood friend Dylann Roof briefly lived with before allegedly killing nine people at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church last year, has accepted a plea agreement over charges he lied to federal investigators and failed to report a crime, The New York Times reports.

According to court documents filed Monday, Meek has agreed to plead guilty to the charges and fully cooperate with authorities in exchange for a possible reduced sentence. From The State:

When he was indicted, federal prosecutors alleged Meek knew about Roof’s plans to shoot African-American parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

An indictment said he “did not, as soon as possible, make known the same to some judge or other person in civil authority.

It also alleges that on the day after the shootings, Meek told an FBI agent “he did not know specifics of Dylann Roof’s plan” to kill people at the church.

Speaking to reporters last year, Meek said that he briefly hid Roof’s handgun after his roommate delivered a “drunken rant” but returned the weapon after Roof sobered up.

“People think it’s my fault,” Meek told The Washington Post. “Would you believe your friend if they said something like that when they were drunk? [...] You can’t tell me you would. I didn’t believe it. I brushed it off.”