BREAKING: Former Republican Gov’s Chief Of Staff Shot Dead By FBI

(CBrief) – The former chief-of-staff for former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has been shot dead after a confrontation with the FBI.

It happened on Monday night when the fugitive for an aide to the governor, Roy McGrath, was shot dead after a three-week manhunt after he fled before he was scheduled to stand trial for wire fraud.

The New York Post reported: “FBI agents found McGrath near Knoxville, Tenn., around 6:30 p.m. Monday, and he was shot and killed during the confrontation, according to his attorney and federal authorities, the Baltimore Banner reports. It’s unclear if gunfire from the agents or a self-inflicted wound killed the former Maryland governor’s chief of staff. The FBI did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.”

“It’s an absolute tragedy, the loss of Roy McGrath’s life and the unfortunate events that have transpired over the past three weeks,” his attorney Joseph Murtha said. “Roy McGrath never wavered about his innocence.”

“A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment adding an additional charge against Roy C. McGrath, age 52, of Naples, Florida, for falsification of records to the previous federal charges of wire fraud and theft in programs receiving federal funds,” the Department of Justice said on June 28, 2022.

“The superseding indictment was announced by First Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Phil Selden and Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office. The United States Attorney has recused himself from this case,” it said.

“Honesty and integrity are essential elements of a public servant and those who operate in public trust,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Phil Selden. “Together with our federal and state partners, our office will continue to investigate and prosecute public officials who attempt to violate their trusted positions.”

“McGrath was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve as Executive Director of Maryland Environmental Service (MES), a corporation owned by the State of Maryland to provide environmental services such as water and wastewater management, solid waste management, composting, recycling, dredged material management and other services to state and local government agencies, federal government entities, and private clients. MES, which was headquartered in Millersville, Maryland, generated its operating funds from fees charged to governmental and private clients for its services, as well as from federal grants and funding from federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Department of Transportation. MES functioned as an independent state corporation which did not pay its employees according to the state government pay scale but did require its employees to comply with state travel regulations, annual leave policies, and policies regarding compensatory leave, and time and attendance reporting. McGrath resigned from MES as of May 31, 2020, to become the Governor’s Chief of Staff effective as of June 1, 2020,” the Department of Justice said.

“Count Eight of the superseding indictment alleges that after press accounts of his “severance” payment from MES of a year’s salary or $233,647.23 occurred in August 2020, McGrath knowingly falsified a document which falsely purported to be a memorandum to the Governor of Maryland, referenced a salary of $233,647.23, and a severance package from MES. The allegedly false memorandum contained a blue check mark, as characteristically used by the Governor of Maryland, in the “approved” box which created the illusion that the Governor had seen and approved the memorandum. The allegedly false memorandum was backdated to May 18, 2020, which the indictment alleges was the date McGrath interviewed for the Chief of Staff position with the Governor,” it said.

“The previously filed indictment alleges that to conceal the payments and circumstances surrounding the payments from the Governor of Maryland and the MES Board of Directors, McGrath falsely told the MES Board that the Governor was aware of and consented to the severance payment. As detailed in the indictment, when the Governor learned about the severance package and questioned McGrath about it, McGrath falsely stated that the MES Board of Directors had offered him the severance payment in accordance with their usual practice. McGrath also attempted to delete or caused to be deleted from the public minutes of the MES Board of Directors meeting, any mention of compensation of McGrath or the Executive Director of MES, or the amount $233,647.23, or the description of the compensation as a ‘year’s salary,’” it said.

“If convicted of the federal charges, McGrath faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of the five counts of wire fraud; a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for each of two counts of embezzling funds from an organization receiving more than $10,000 in federal benefits; and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison for the charge of falsifying a document,” it said.

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