Roof friend gets prison time for silence over church shooting plot

A federal judge in Charleston, S.C., has sentenced Joey Meek to 27 months in prison for failing to report Dylann Roof’s mass shooting plot targeting Emanuel AME Church in 2015. Meek and Roof had been friends in middle school and reconnected months before the shooting. Roof told Meek his plan during a night spent drinking vodka, snorting cocaine, smoking marijuana, and playing video games. Meek never called the police and later denied knowing about the plan. After the June 17 shooting, he also stopped another friend from reporting Roof as a possible suspect in the murder of the nine African-American church members. Police eventually caught Roof before he could attack another church. Meek apologized to the victims’ families and cried during today’s sentencing hearing. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, who also presided over Roof’s trial, said he hoped Meek’s case would serve as a deterrent for others who might know about a serious crime and consider keeping it to themselves.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.