The fugitive ex-chief of staff of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was shot while law enforcement was trying to execute an arrest near Knoxville, Tennessee.
Roy McGrath was discovered Monday evening by the FBI three weeks after missing the start of his trial in a federal fraud case.
The agency is ”reviewing an agent-involved shooting which occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 3. During the arrest, the subject, Roy McGrath, sustained injury and was transported to the hospital,” the FBI said in a statement.
The FBI was not explicit about whether one of its agents had shot Mr. McGrath or whether he tried to commit suicide rather than surrender. There was no immediate word on his condition, and the FBI said it would investigate the shooting, per normal procedure.
Citing witnesses to the scene, the Baltimore Banner reported Monday evening that the confrontation took place at a high-end shopping center in Farragut, Tennessee, about 17 miles west of Knoxville.
Jon Housley told the Banner that he was leaving a Gold’s Gym around 6:45 p.m. when he saw unmarked police vehicles surrounding a white Yukon SUV that had both side windows shot out.
“I thought, uh oh, somebody’s pulled over,” he told the Banner.
Mr. Housley said he saw blood on the ground as a man was taken out of the Yukon, put on a stretcher, and a sheet pulled up to his neck.
The shooting and arrest ends a three-week manhunt after Mr. McGrath, 53, failed to show up for his trial on March 13.
Mr. McGrath faces charges related to a payout he received after leaving as executive director of the Maryland Environmental Service to become Mr. Hogan’s chief of staff in 2020.
An indictment alleges that Mr. McGrath falsified a document related to a severance payment of a year’s salary — $233,647 — so that it looked like Mr. Hogan approved it.
When asked about it, prosecutors allege, Mr. McGrath falsely told the governor the MES Board of Directors had offered him the severance payment in accordance with their usual practice.
Prosecutors also accuse Mr. McGrath of misusing MES funds for personal expenses and falsifying time sheets to claim he was at work while on two vacations in 2019.
Mr. McGrath lasted 11 weeks on the job before resigning in August 2020 from Mr. Hogan’s administration.
He faces charges of wire fraud, falsifying a document and embezzling funds from an organization receiving more than $10,000 in federal benefits. The most serious charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this report.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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