(TotalConservative.com) – A former chief of staff for the former governor of Maryland was pronounced dead on Monday following a confrontation with the FBI who were pursuing him after a failure to appear in court last month.
When Roy McGrath failed to show up for his trial on charges of corruption, a manhunt was launched by the FBI. McGrath was eventually located in Knoxville, Tennessee, on the outskirts of a commercial area, where agents confronted him. In an email from FBI Supervisory Special Agent Shayne Buchwald, it was reported that McGrath was wounded during a shooting involving an agent around 6:30 PM, after which McGrath was taken to a nearby hospital. Buchwald did not elaborate on the details of the shooting, which is still under investigation.
The FBI confirmed to McGrath’s lawyer, Joseph Murtha, that McGrath was dead but did not confirm if the gunshot wound was self-inflicted or received during a gunfire exchange with the agents. The death was also confirmed by the attorney of Laura Bruner, McGrath’s wife, who is “distraught” after receiving the news.
After just 11 weeks as former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s chief of staff, McGrath resigned when it was made public that he secured the equivalent of one year’s salary fraudulently as a severance payment by lying to the Maryland Environmental Service board about the governor approving the payment. He was also accused of embezzling up to $170,000 in additional expenses. McGrath was indicted in 2021 on charges of fraud and embezzlement. He pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, McGrath would have faced up to 20 years for each of the four counts of fraud, in addition to a maximum sentence of 10 years for each of the two counts of embezzlement. After he skipped his trial last month, the FBI offered a $20,000 reward to anyone who located McGrath.
In a statement, the former governor and his wife said they “are deeply saddened by this tragic situation” and are praying for McGrath’s family and friends.
Murtha said McGrath’s death is “a tragic ending to the past three weeks of uncertainty” and that his client consistently maintained his innocence the entire time.
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