George Beall VIII (August 17, 1937 – January 15, 2017) was a prominent U.S. attorney. While serving as

United States Attorney for the District of Maryland The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland is the chief federal law enforcement officer for the State of Maryland. Since October 2021, the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland is Erek Barron. The United States District Court fo ...

, he prosecuted

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...

for bribery. This prosecution ultimately led to Agnew's resignation as Vice President in 1973.

Background

Beall was born in

Frostburg, Maryland Frostburg is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and is at the head of the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located west of Cumberland, the town is one of the first cities ...

, on August 17, 1937, to his parents, future U.S. Senator

James Glenn Beall James Glenn Beall (June 5, 1894 – January 14, 1971) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative (1943–1953) and a U.S. Senator (1953–1965) from Maryland. Earl ...

and the former Margaret Schwarzenbach. He was one of three sons, the eldest also being a future U.S. Senator from Maryland,

John Glenn Beall Jr. James Glenn Beall Jr. (June 19, 1927March 24, 2006) was an American Republican politician and businessman from the state of Maryland who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing (1969–1971), and as a United States Sen ...

Beall received his undergraduate degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1959; and his law degree from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

, in 1963. His first two marriages, to Linda Jenkins in 1961 and Nancy Roche in 1965, ended in divorces. In 1980, he married Carolyn Campbell. He died in Naples, Florida, on January 15, 2017.

Career

After clerking for Chief Judge

Simon E. Sobeloff Simon Ernest Sobeloff (December 3, 1894 – July 11, 1973) was an American attorney and jurist, who served as Solicitor General of the United States, as Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, and as a United States circuit judge of the ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

for the Fourth Circuit, Beall became a trial lawyer for a Maryland law firm. In 1968, Spiro Agnew, the

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

at the time, appointed Beall, a fellow

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, to the Maryland Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. Beall was appointed

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

in June 1970, initially on an interim basis. Though he had never prosecuted a single case, Beall proved to be, in the words of his predecessor, a "tough act to follow" as

: among other cases and investigations, he indicted and prosecuted

Arthur Bremer Arthur Herman Bremer (; born August 21, 1950) is an American convicted criminal who attempted to assassinate U.S. Democratic presidential candidate George Wallace on May 15, 1972, in Laurel, Maryland, which left Wallace permanently paralyzed ...

for the shooting of presidential candidate, and Governor of Alabama,

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

; as well as a state legislator turned drug dealer; and Spiro Agnew, by then the Vice President of the United States.

Agnew investigation

Two years after Beall took office, he opened an investigation into corruption in

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

of public officials and architects, engineers, and paving contractors. One contractor, Lester Matz, stated that he had been paying "Agnew kickbacks in exchange for contracts for years — first when Agnew was the

Baltimore County Executive The Baltimore County Executive is the highest elected official representing the Government of Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The office was established with the implementation of the County Charter for Baltimore County on November 6, 1 ...

, then when he was

and Vice President." Another witness, Jerome B. Wolff, head of Maryland's roads commission, stated that his attic was filled with documentation that detailed "every corrupt payment he participated in with then-Governor Agnew." Despite being pressured by the White House and his brother (now a senator), Beall continued to allow his investigators to continue their work. Agnew resigned as Vice President and pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

in the sum of $13,551.47 for 1967. He was fined $10,000 and avoided prison time.

Private practice

Beall resigned on March 31, 1975, and returned to private practice, specializing in commercial litigation. His clients included the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

while owned by

Art Modell Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchis ...

. In 1978, he worked as campaign chairman for his brother's failed run for

References

External links

*
FBI Records: The Vault – George Beall
at fbi.gov {{DEFAULTSORT:Beall, George 1937 births 2017 deaths People from Frostburg, Maryland Maryland Republicans Princeton University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni United States Attorneys for the District of Maryland Beall family of Maryland Lawyers from Cumberland, Maryland Politicians from Cumberland, Maryland