Meek, friend of Charleston shooting suspect out on bond

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO/AP) – The friend of a white man accused of massacring nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church was released from jail. A bond execution hearing was scheduled in Columbia on Wednesday for 21-year-old Joey Meek. The $25,000 surety bond was paid by his grandmother; Meek will face random drug testing as part of his release conditions. Meek bonded out with several conditions including he can not have contact with 8 witnesses including his girlfriend and brothers. Another condition of the release is that Meek has to live with his grandparents and must maintain/seek employment. Meek will be required to wear a home electronic monitoring device. Last month, a federal judge lowered Meek’s bond from $100,000 to $25,000, citing his nonviolent past and lack of hard drug use. Authorities say Meek lied and failed to report all he knew about Dylann Roof’s plans to shoot parishioners at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in June. Meek is on probation. He pleaded guilty in March to possessing a stolen vehicle. His attorney said last month Meek had been in solitary confinement since his Sept. 17 arrest.