Roy McGrath, the fugitive former Chief of Staff to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, is dead following a standoff with police. He was the subject of a major manhunt and there was a $20,000 reward out for information on his whereabouts.
Fugitive official killed
On Monday, fugitive Roy McGrath was fatally “wounded in a confrontation with law enforcement,” his attorney relates. The Hil reports that “the onetime chief of staff of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan” was “wanted on corruption charges.”
Specifically he failed to appear “for the start of his criminal trial on multiple charges of wire fraud, embezzlement and document falsification.”
McGrath apparently didn’t have a whole lot of confidence that his defense team could beat the charges and he didn’t look forward to a new relationship with a serial killer named Bubba.
Roy McGrath, former Gov. Hogan staffer and FBI fugitive, shot dead during standoff with police https://t.co/CxfBVXgW1Z
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 4, 2023
Ditching his court appearance sparked off a major manhunt, prompting “the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service to offer up a $20,000 reward for information that could lead to an arrest” of the federal fugitive.
Reports note that it wasn’t “immediately clear whether the former Maryland governor’s aide had died of a self-inflicted wound or injuries from the exchange with police.”
McGrath’s attorney Joseph Murtha believes his fugitive client was at least “wounded” by police but isn’t certain. Washington Post is reporting that “the FBI was reviewing an agent-involved shooting.”
Fraudulently paid $233,000
The 53-year-old fugitive official had “been indicted on accusations that he fraudulently obtained a severance payment of more than $233,000 from the Maryland Environmental Service.” Through his lawyers, McGrath entered a plea of not guilty.
That trial is now a moot point. McGrath had only occupied the post as Hogan’s chief of staff a few months before he was forced to resign “amid reports of his payment from the state agency.”
Murtha has some clues that police homed in on the fugitive by tracking his cell phone. “I don’t have a clear indication but at some point the FBI became capable and successful in tracking him.”
Roy McGrath, who was chief of staff to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, died on Monday following a shooting that involved the FBI in Tennessee, the authorities said. McGarth was the subject of a manhunt after failing to appear for a federal fraud trial.
https://t.co/fmVX0dTjzp— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 4, 2023
Murtha also reveals that agents “recently identified a car (McGrath) purchased for himself.” He’s not sure but believes “it was the same car — possibly a white SUV shown in published photos with a broken front passenger side window — that was involved in the encounter with agents.”
The lawyer confirmed that several cell phones in McGrath’s possession may have also been used to ultimately pinpoint his location in Farragut, outside Knoxville. Murtha told the court that “he spoke to McGrath on Sunday.”
His client was still in Florida but was expected to fly to Maryland later in the day. He later attributed the change in plans to “flight availability.” He never expected his client to become a fugitive, much less shoot it out with police.
