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FBI agents and U.S. Marshals searched for three weeks across the southern U.S. states for the fugitive Roy McGrath before locating him in a suburban strip mall parking lot west of Knoxville, Tennessee.
McGrath was more than 800 miles from his home when agents closed in late Monday. They tracked him there through a known Cadillac and multiple cellphones McGrath had used since he went on the run, according to a source with knowledge of the search.
A former state government official, McGrath was fatally shot during the confrontation with federal agents. He died Monday night at a Tennessee hospital.
It was not immediately known if the agents shot McGrath or he shot himself. An FBI spokeswoman issued a brief statement describing the encounter as an “agent-involved shooting.” News footage from the scene shows a white Cadillac SUV with the front passenger window shattered. The Cadillac is blocked in by an unmarked car.
READ MORE: Roy McGrath’s spiral from executive to fugitive was as puzzling as it was spectacular
That authorities knew of the Cadillac and McGrath’s multiple cellphones bring the first clues to how they tracked him to the Knoxville suburbs. Still, much remains unknown and FBI agents continued Tuesday to investigate the deadly confrontation. The FBI issued a brief statement promising to “carefully examine” what happened.
“The FBI reviews every shooting incident involving an FBI special agent. The review will carefully examine the circumstances of the shooting, and collect all relevant evidence from the scene,” an FBI spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman declined questions. It’s also unclear how McGrath managed to get a gun when conditions of his pretrial release forbid him from possessing a firearm.
The former head of the Maryland Environmental Service and chief of staff to former Gov. Larry Hogan had been missing since March 13 when he failed to show in federal court in Baltimore for his trial on charges of fraud, theft and falsifying records.
When he skipped court, FBI agents placed a phone call to Florida and asked sheriff’s deputies there to perform a welfare check at his Naples home. Later, agents searched his house, seized his wife’s cellphone and circulated wanted posters with photos of the slim, former government official in a suit. After two weeks, they offered $20,000 for information leading to his arrest.
The case took a puzzling turn last month, when a self-published e-book titled “Betrayed: The True Story of Roy McGrath” went on sale. The unknown author, who gave the name “Ryan C. Cooper,” said the book was based on McGrath’s own manuscript and their interviews from the preceding months. The book jumped to No. 4 among Amazon’s 100 bestsellers in “Political Commentary & Opinion.”
A sequel published online last week recounted McGrath’s time at the Maryland Environmental Service.
There’s been much speculation about the author. On a phone call with The Banner, the author described himself as a semi-retired man who moved from Hagerstown to Florida and felt sympathy for McGrath. Subsequent calls to the author were met with a recorded message saying the phone number was unavailable.
In Annapolis, the book captured attention. Political insiders said the scenes rang true — if flattering to McGrath. Attorneys said the books could be evidence at trial.
McGrath resigned as Hogan’s chief of staff amid controversy over a payout of more than $233,000 that he negotiated when he transferred to the governor’s office from the environmental service. State and federal authorities accused McGrath of carrying out a scheme to enrich himself by defrauding state government.
A federal grand jury indicted McGrath in October 2021. He was also charged in Anne Arundel Circuit Court with misconduct in office, embezzlement and wiretapping. Prosecutors also accused him of recording other government officials — including Hogan — without their consent.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas M. DiGirolamo approved pretrial release for McGrath and set the conditions. He was ordered to surrender his passport and report on a regular basis to the court. McGrath was permitted to travel to Maryland and Florida, or elsewhere if approved by the court, and could not possess a firearm.
tim.prudente@thebaltimorebanner.com
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Tim Prudente is an enterprise reporter for The Baltimore Banner.
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