Roy McGrath’s wife fears for his safety as search for him continues, attorney says

By now, federal investigators likely have tried tracking Roy McGrath’s phone. They’ve probably reviewed his bank records and interviewed anyone close to him, too.

Agents on Tuesday descended on the Naples, Florida, neighborhood where McGrath has lived since shortly after he resigned under scrutiny from his brief stint as former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s chief of staff.

This type of boot-leather investigative work, former federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents say, is typical of searches for people considered to be fugitives, even if McGrath’s case is anything but typical.

Set to begin his federal trial Monday morning in Baltimore on charges unlikely to condemn him to life in prison if convicted, McGrath never appeared in court. The 53-year-old apparently has been missing since Sunday night, when he was supposed to board a plane for Maryland. After briefly delaying the court proceedings, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a warrant for McGrath’s arrest while also expressing concern for his well-being.

The U.S. Marshals Service, charged with bringing McGrath into custody, has been looking for him since and is providing few details about its search. The agency circulated a wanted poster for McGrath on Tuesday, but a spokesman declined to answer questions.

Defense attorney Joseph Murtha said he last heard from his client Sunday evening. He told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday he had no update on McGrath’s whereabouts. He was, however, in touch with McGrath’s wife.

“I have been in contact with Laura and she shared her concern for Roy’s safety,” Murtha wrote in a text message. “She has requested that the media respect her need for privacy at this very difficult time.”

Murtha added that he was unsure of the last time Laura Bruner saw her husband.

Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said there are typically two possibilities when a federal defendant misses a court date.

“One is the defendant got cold feet and fled and tried to avoid a trial and the other is suicide,” Rosenstein, who was also the U.S. Attorney for Maryland, told The Sun. “There are occasions where criminal defendants, under a lot of stress, commit suicide. We don’t know what Mr. McGrath’s mental state was.”

Should federal authorities find McGrath alive and arrest him, they would bring him to Maryland.

Prosecutors say McGrath stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state during his tenure at the helm of the government-owned nonprofit Maryland Environmental Service. Federal prosecutors say he claimed to be working while vacationing, used the organization’s funds to pay for personal expenses like tuition and doctored up a $233,000 severance package.

He also is charged with illegally recording a 2020 phone call with other top advisers to Hogan, a Republican whose second term ended in January. McGrath is scheduled for a trial in July on parallel state charges in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court.

Rosenstein and other experts said the Marshals Service likely already has determined whether McGrath got on his flight, and probably subpoenaed his bank and phone records to get a better sense of his plans.

For example, law enforcement may want to see whether McGrath withdrew large amounts of cash before leaving his home — an indication that someone planned to flee and wanted to avoid leaving a digital trail.

“You’re developing a story of where this person could go and what resources they can use to stay anonymous,” said Richard Henry, who served 27 years with the marshals before retiring and being appointed Maryland’s inspector general for education.

Henry said that typically begins with “the gumshoe type detective approach” by marshals, including a neighborhood canvass for people who recently saw the fugitive or have video cameras.

Robert Desiano, who lives in the same Naples suburban neighborhood as McGrath, sent The Sun photos of what appear to be federal law enforcement agents outside McGrath’s house and outside another house on the same street Tuesday.

The marshals also will consider a fugitive’s connections abroad in determining whether to expand their search, said James Trusty, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw several such searches. If they think there’s a possibility the person fled the country, they may apply for a warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution, which serves as “an international ‘be on the lookout.’”

Federally indicted in October 2021, McGrath was not held in custody pending trial and was ordered to surrender his passport that same month, according to court documents. While unlikely to have fled the country through the usual routes, if he has, it’s likely authorities would know quickly.

“If the guy ends up withdrawing cash from a Caribbean ATM, I expect the U.S. Marshals will know about it in about an hour,” Trusty said.

If convicted in federal court, McGrath likely would have benefited at sentencing from not having a criminal record, said Andrew Radding, a veteran defense attorney in Baltimore.

Radding said inmates can shave up to 15% off of their prison sentences with credit for good behavior while incarcerated.

“No federal prison facility is as nice as his place in Naples,” Radding told The Sun, “but, from the numbers I see, it’s not a case that would cause him to spend the rest of his life in prison.”

All of the former prosecutors and federal agents agreed on one thing: Fleeing from federal law enforcement is usually a futile effort.

“You can run but you can’t hide,” Henry said. “Eventually, we’re going to find you.”