CHARLESTON, S.C. _ Charleston church killer Dylann Roof's friend Joey Meek has been sentenced to 27 months in prison sentence by a federal judge.
Meek, 22, was initially charged with withholding information from authorities about Roof's crime and lying to the FBI about his prior knowledge of Roof's plans to kill black people at a historic downtown Charleston church a year ago. Roof carried out his plan, fatally shooting nine parishioners at a church Bible study group in June 2015.
Near the end of the 2 {-hour hearing, Meek choked back sobs and apologized to the families of the victims and law enforcement.
Although Meek knew of Roof's plans to massacre African-Americans at a Charleston church, he was not charged with concealing that information from authorities in advance of the killings. It is not a crime to fail to tell law officers about a proposed criminal act.
Federal Judge Richard Gergel said Meek's most serious offense was misprison of a felony _ not only knowing about a crime but also taking steps to impede the investigation while a horrible killer was on the loose.
Meek attorney Debbie Barbier had asked Gerger to consider home detention for Meek.
Gergel rejected that because of the seriousness of crime and the need to send a message that a person can't obstruct an investigation.
Gergel said Meek can stay out on bond until he reports to prison. He has been living with his grandparents in the Columbia area, working at a restaurant and seeing a psychiatrist. Prosecutors did not object to Meek staying free on bond.
Barbier had told Gergel that if Meek is put in the general population, "he will be killed," but if he is put in solitary confinement, his mental and physical condition will deteriorate horribly. That is why she wanted a light prison sentence or an alternative sentence, she said.
When Meek agreed to plead guilty 11 months ago, he told Gergel he was seeing a psychiatrist but did not say why.
Meek was expected to be a witness for the government in Roof's federal death-penalty trial that concluded in January. But prosecutors did not call him.
