Former Baltimore Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Convicted On Perjury Counts | News

A federal jury convicted Baltimore’s former chief prosecutor Marilyn Mosby Thursday (Nov. 9) on two counts of perjury, finding that she lied about her travel business’ finances to access retirement funds improperly to buy two Florida homes.

Mosby, 42, faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each of the two counts of perjury, a Department of Justice statement said.

In a separate case, the former prosecutor faces federal mortgage fraud charges related to the two Florida vacation homes. A trial date is pending.

“I’m blessed. I’m blessed. I have nothing else to say,” Mosby told reporters outside the courtroom after the verdict, according to The Washington Post.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mosby made two separate withdrawals totaling $90,000 from her City of Baltimore’s Deferred Compensation Plan, falsely certifying that the pandemic had harmed a side travel business she created before the pandemic, according to the prosecutor.

In fact, Mosby received her full gross salary of nearly $250,000 in 2020, the government noted, and she wasn’t entitled to access the funds under provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act – also known as the Cares Act that allowed people to access their retirement holdings if the pandemic caused financial hardships.

The prosecutor argued that her business, Mahogany Elite Enterprises, was not functioning at the time, having no clients, income, business cards or vendors.

Mosby’s attorney, federal public defender James Wyda, argued that the former prosecutor did not defraud the government. He told jurors that the pandemic crushed her travel business venture.

“This case is about a three-page form and what was in Marilyn Mosby’s mind when she filled it out. She qualified, and she reasonably believed she qualified,” Wyda said, adding that adverse financial hardship could be small under the rules of the Cares Act, according to The Post.

The prosecutor said Mosby’s motivation was to obtain down payments for the Florida vacation homes.

“We respect the jury’s verdict and remain steadfastly committed to our mission to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe, protect the civil rights of all Americans, and safeguard public property,” U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron said.

Mosby rose to national prominence when her office criminally charged Baltimore police officers in connection with Freddie Gray’s death in 2015 amid rioting and protesters demanding justice for Gray. But none of the officers were convicted.

In July 2022, Mosby lost her Democratic primary for reelection as Baltimore state’s attorney.