Former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has been convicted of one count of mortgage fraud after a split verdict was announced on Tuesday evening. The jury deliberated for most of the day before finding Mosby not guilty on a second mortgage fraud charge. This comes after Mosby was previously convicted of two counts of perjury in November for falsely claiming financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic to withdraw money from the city’s retirement fund.
Federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against Mosby, alleging that she claimed a pandemic-related hardship to access her retirement account and used the funds as down payments on two Florida properties. Prosecutors further claimed that she repeatedly lied on the mortgage applications. The trial, originally scheduled to take place in Baltimore, was moved to Greenbelt, Maryland due to concerns about potential juror bias resulting from media coverage.
During the trial, both Mosby and her ex-husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby, provided testimony. Nick Mosby admitted to lying about their federal tax debt out of embarrassment. Marilyn Mosby maintained that she did not intentionally make false statements and signed the loan applications in good faith. However, her failure to disclose the debt on the applications contributed to the mortgage fraud charges.
Prosecutors argued that Mosby lied about receiving a $5,000 gift from her then-husband, which allegedly helped her secure a lower interest rate. The Baltimore Sun reported that this gift ultimately led to her conviction, as prosecutors traced it back to her account. To secure a conviction, prosecutors had to prove that Mosby knowingly made a false statement that affected the mortgage application process.
With the conviction of mortgage fraud, Mosby now faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years for the single count. Mosby gained national attention for her role in prosecuting Baltimore police officers following the death of Freddie Gray, a Black man, while in police custody.
