BALTIMORE (AP) - George Beall, the federal attorney who headed the investigation and prosecution that led to Spiro Agnew's resignation as vice president, has died, his wife says.
Carolyn Beall said by phone that her husband died Sunday at their home in Naples, Florida. He was 79.
Beall (pronounced BELL) was U.S. attorney for Maryland when reports of corruption in Baltimore County came to his attention. The investigation focused on Agnew, who had been Baltimore County executive and Maryland governor. Richard Nixon picked Agnew to be vice president in 1968.
Beall began investigating Agnew in 1973. The Baltimore Sun reports that during the investigation, Beall and his staff issued more than 500 subpoenas.
In October 1973, in his second term as vice president, Agnew pleaded no contest to tax evasion and resigned.