WASHINGTON (CN) — The saga of an embattled Maryland government official ended with gunfire in Tennessee on Monday night.
Roy McGrath, who in 2020 served for just 11 weeks as chief of staff to former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, died Monday after a confrontation with the FBI near Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 53.
While a lawyer for McGrath told news outlets he wasn’t sure how McGrath was killed — whether his wound was self-inflicted or the result of a firefight — the FBI announced that McGrath was taken to a hospital after suffering a wound during “an agent-involved shooting” at about 6:30 p.m. A representative for the bureau did not return a request for comment Tuesday morning.
The Baltimore Banner, which also has not specified the manner of McGrath's injury, reported that agents opened fire after encountering McGrath at a commercial intersection west of Knoxville.
For the past 21 days, McGrath had been a fugitive after he failed to show up to federal court in Baltimore where he was expected to begin trial on the indictment that led to his resignation.
McGrath was charged with wire fraud and embezzlement over allegations he misled officials to receive a roughly $233,000 severance payment on his departure as executive director of the Maryland Environmental Service. The indictment also said he improperly directed $14,000 from the quasi-public agency to an art museum for which he was a member of the board of directors to avoid paying for a pledge himself.
The Maryland Environmental Service was created in 1970 as a corporation of the state to provide services such as solid waste and wastewater management. It is funded by grants from government agencies and fees charged to clients for its services. McGrath was confirmed by the Maryland Senate to serve as the agency's executive director in March 2017.
Prosecutors alleged that McGrath used the position to “enrich himself personally," including by falsifying time reports to result in overpayments while he was on vacation.
The scheme fell apart after McGrath took a job in the governor’s office in 2020 when the Baltimore Sun broke news of McGrath’s severance payment, which was equal to a year of salary.
McGrath had secured the severance for himself by telling the Environmental Service that Hogan had approved it. Hogan has denied knowledge of it, however, and cooperated with law enforcement.
The saga took another turn last month when a self-published e-book went on sale titled “Betrayed: The True Story of Roy McGrath.” The author, listed as Ryan Cooper, claimed the book was based on McGrath’s manuscript and interviews between Cooper and McGrath. Media outlets have been unable to verify the author’s identity.
McGrath was facing up to 100 years in federal prison for the charges. He was also charged in state court with theft, misconduct in office and violating Maryland’s wiretap laws.
During the investigation, McGrath moved to a gated community in Florida, where federal agents executed a raid on March 15.
It’s unclear how long McGrath had been in Tennessee, why he went there or how he was tracked down.
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