Spokane legal community loses an icon

 

Carroll D. Gray, who worked in the U.S attorney’s office in Spokane for more than 30 years, has died.

The legend of the Spokane legal community, pictured above in 1981, died at his home Wednesday morning, the U.S Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday.

Gray was a Spokane County deputy prosecutor from 1956 to 1959 and joined the U.S attorney’s office in 1961. He served as interim U.S attorney from May through September 1993, news archives show. He prosecuted mostly tax evasion and fraud cases, including the 1984 security fraud scheme of Kenneth Oxborrow.

“He was one of the true gentlemen and a very, very tough United States attorney,” said Mark Vovos, a longtime Spokane criminal defense lawyer. “He was a person that you liked. Even when he kicked the hell out of me in court…He was a darn good lawyer and a darn good person.”

The Spokesman-Review is preparing a tribute article and invites anyone with stories about Gray to email meghannc@spokesman.com or call (509) 459-5534.