COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A friend of the man accused of gunning down nine parishioners at a Charleston church is charged with lying to federal authorities and concealing information during their investigation, and he was scheduled for his first court appearance Friday. Joseph “Joey” Meek Jr., 21, of Red Bank, pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center pending the posting of a $100,000 secured bond and a background check by federal probation officials. In this June 18, 2015 frame from video Joey Meek, friend of Dylann Roof who is accused of killing nine black church members during Bible study on June 17 in Charleston , S.C., speaks to The Associated... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this June 18, 2015 frame from video Joey Meek, friend of Dylann Roof who is accused of killing nine black church members during Bible study on June 17 in Charleston , S.C., speaks to The Associated... (Associated Press) 
 
 Court documents dated Tuesday and unsealed Friday say that Joey Meek, 21, told an FBI agent that he did not know specifics about Dylann Roof's plan to shoot the churchgoers during Bible study, but the FBI says that was a lie. Meek's girlfriend, Lindsey Fry, said he called her on his cellphone Thursday afternoon and said it looked like federal agents were approaching him as he was at his job repairing air conditioners. Meek has told The State newspaper that he last saw Roof the morning of the shootings and called authorities the next morning, after he recognized Roof on video surveillance tapes on television. No other family or friends who spent extensive time with Roof at the mobile home have received target letters, Fry said. He said goodbye and she hasn't heard from Meek since, Fry said outside the mobile home where they live. Meek was informed in an Aug. 6 letter from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia that he was a “potential target” of the federal criminal investigation, The State newspaper reported Wednesday. Roof faces federal hate crime charges as well as nine counts of murder in state court in the June 17 shootings. FBI agents arrested him Thursday at his workplace Friday morning, officials disclosed the indictment and announced the arraignment.
– The FBI thinks one of Dylann Roof's friends knew specifics about the accused shooter's plan for mass murder in a church. The feds arrested Joey Meek yesterday and revealed today that he is being charged with lying to federal agents and concealing information, reports the AP. He could face up to eight years in prison if convicted on both federal charges, reports the State. Roof was living with Meek on and off prior to the shooting, but Meek has denied knowing any details about Roof's alleged plot. The feds say he not only knew, he "did not, as soon as possible, make known the same to some judge or other person in civil authority under the United States." Meek had spoken previously about hearing a drunken Roof say that black people were taking over the world and "someone needed to do something about it." In fact, Meek and other friends once temporarily took away Roof's gun. Meek is to appear in court this morning.