Former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is shown at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Jan. 31, 2024. | Source: Kirk McKoy / The Baltimore Banner
Baltimore’s former top prosecutor is facing decades in prison after jurors on Tuesday convicted her of mortgage fraud in a split verdict.
Marylin Mosby, who served as the State’s Attorney for Baltimore from 2015 to 2022, was convicted of one of two counts of federal mortgage fraud in part of a wider federal corruption case centered on allegations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic for which Mosby was already found guilty of perjury.
The jury unanimously agreed that Mosby lied about the source of $5,000 that she allegedly was gifted at closing, as it relates to her purchase of a condo in Long Boat Key, Florida.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Maryland said Mosby falsely stated that she had received a $5,000 gift from her then-husband to be applied to the purchase of the condo in order to get a lower interest rate.
Prosecutors said evidence showed Mosby did not receive a $5,000 gift from her then-husband, but rather transferred $5,000 to him, and he then transferred the $5,000 back to her.
The 10-day trial followed Mosby’s conviction in November for committing perjury by making false statements on a COVID-19 loan application during the pandemic.
In that case, Mosby, 44, was found guilty of two counts, with each count carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Tuesday’s guilty verdict means Mosby is also facing up to 30 years in prison in a separate sentence.
Sentencing experts have cautioned that federal sentences would likely run concurrently and be far lower than the maximum sentence, particularly for first-time offenders like Mosby.
Mosby’s sentencing date was not immediately reported.
What happened?
Mosby was originally hit with four felony counts in 2022 related to allegations centered on a withdrawal from her own retirement fund in 2020. The exact language of the indictment alleged that Mosby “willfully and knowingly” lied about experiencing “adverse financial consequences stemming from the Coronavirus” and that she intentionally lied on a loan application because she was in arrears to the IRS.
Specifically, Mosby was accused of taking out $40,000 from her 401K because she had a financial hardship caused by the pandemic. The Baltimore Sun reported at the time that Mosby earned a $10,000 pay raise that year to bring her annual salary up to $248,000. After she withdrew $36,000, Mosby used it for a down payment on a property in Florida that she said would be a second home in an effort to lower interest rates, the indictment claimed.
Mosby’s lawyer when she was initially charged claimed the indictment was the result of a political witch hunt and that the charges were “rooted in personal, political and racial animus” while she was seeking reelection just months before Election Day — claims that her federal public defender maintained during the trial that was relocated from Baltimore to Greenbelt in Prince George’s County, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
The federal investigation began in 2021 and was initially focused on Mosby and her husband, then-Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby, for potential campaign finance violations. At the time, it was reported that subpoenas were being issued for the couple’s financial information and an investigation into their alleged link to city churches.
In particular, Union Baptist Church in Baltimore was subpoenaed and its lawyer said at the time that investigators wanted to know how much money the Mosbys give to the house of worship.
“I spend more monthly at Starbucks than the Mosbys gave during the time period,” said Robert Fulton Dashiell, the attorney representing the Mosbys back then, adding that the total was less than $200.
Around the same time, independent news outlet the Baltimore Brew published a report claiming then-State’s Attorney Mosby “paid $11,000 to a Washington law firm that acted on [her] personal behalf, which is a prohibited practice under Maryland election law.”
There have been a number of previous instances where the Mosbys found their actions under heightened scrutiny, including suspicions of campaign finance violations when it came to receiving gifts, paying taxes and traveling, for example. However, none of the accusations have ever been proven.
Who is Marilyn Mosby?
Mosby first rose to national prominence during the uproar over the in-custody death of Freddie Gray, a Black man who was arrested in Baltimore for possession of a small pen knife in 2015. He died in transport under questionable circumstances. Mosby called for the indictment of six city cops but ultimately dropped the charges against the remaining three officers involved. Mosby faced tough criticism after the three other officers involved were found not guilty.
Mosby called for system reform after the failure to find any criminal involvement in Gray’s death.
“We know that Freddie Gray did not kill himself,” she said at the time and stood by the medical examiner’s determination that his death was a homicide.
SEE ALSO:
Thanks To Trump, Black Women Prosecutors Have The Added Burdens Of Racist, Gendered Attacks
Marilyn Mosby’s ‘Bogus’ Federal Indictment Is Rooted In ‘Racial Animus,’ Her Attorney Says
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