Roy McGrath killed during encounter with FBI in Tennessee after three-week manhunt
BALTIMORE – A week-long manhunt for fugitive Roy McGrath ended Monday night with the former Maryland official fatally shot in an encounter with law enforcement agents in Tennessee, according to McGrath’s attorney.
“The FBI has confirmed Roy’s death,” attorney Joseph Murtha said. “It’s a tragic end to the last three weeks of uncertainty. I think it’s important to note that Roy never wavered in his innocence.”
McGrath, former chief of staff to former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, was found near Knoxville, according to the FBI.
The FBI said they are investigating an “agent-involved shooting” around 6:30 p.m. involving McGrath, who was taken to the hospital with injuries. Our media partner The Baltimore Banner reports that McGrath died at the hospital.
“The FBI takes seriously all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members,” the FBI said in a statement. “In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under investigation by the FBI’s Division of Inspections.”
It is not known how authorities found McGrath.
Considered a fugitive by US Marshals after failing to appear at his federal fraud trial in Baltimore, McGrath has been on the run since March 13.
The US Marshals Service and the FBI teamed up to offer a $20,000 reward for information leading to McGrath’s arrest.
McGrath was to be tried on federal charges stemming from his time running the Maryland Environmental Service, a quasi-governmental state agency that provides services such as wastewater management, composting and recycling.
Prosecutors said McGrath fraudulently received a $233,647 severance payment when he left to take over as Hogan’s chief of staff in 2020 and falsified a document purporting to show the governor had approved the payment.
He was also accused of falsifying time sheets while on vacation in Europe and stealing tuition money for classes at Harvard.
McGrath was indicted in October 2021 and faces a maximum of 100 years in federal prison on charges that he illegally recorded former Gov. Hogan and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from state government.
He was wanted on charges of failure to appear, fraud, theft of funds and falsification of data.
As the nationwide search for McGrath continued, a tell-all book was published 10 days after his disappearance, and a second book about his time at the Maryland Environmental Service was released last week.
Little could be confirmed about author Ryan Cooper, but it is known that McGrath told many people that he was working on a manuscript.
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