Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, a rising star who was thrust into the national spotlight after the 2015 police custody death of Freddie Gray, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on two counts each of perjury and making false loan applications.
The indictment alleges that Mosby (D) claimed, under penalty of perjury, to have experienced “adverse financial consequences” as she twice asked to withdraw money from her City of Baltimore retirement fund under a Cares Act clause designed to help people cope with the pandemic.
Prosecutors say the work hardships Mosby cited in May and December of 2020, to withdraw $40,000 and $50,000, respectively, were unfounded as she received her full gross salary of $250,000 that year. Mosby ultimately received the money from her retirement account, the indictment alleges, then used it to purchase two properties in Florida — a home in Kissimmee and a condo in Long Boat Key.
On both mortgage applications, Mosby was required to disclose her liabilities but failed to do so, according to court records. She did not reveal that she had unpaid federal taxes or that in March 2020 the Internal Revenue Service had placed a $45,000 lien against all properties she and her husband owned, the indictment states.
Additionally, the indictment alleges that Mosby signed a “second home rider” on the Kissimmee property, which allowed her to obtain a lower mortgage rate and included a promise that the space would be primarily used by her as a second home. But a week before that, prosecutors allege, Mosby signed an agreement with a vacation property management company to rent the home — which violated the terms of the second home rider.
An attorney for Mosby said Thursday that the charges were unfounded, “rooted in personal, political and racial animus five months from her election.”
“Marilyn Mosby is innocent, has been innocent, and we look forward to defending her in the court of law, and presenting evidence of her innocence to a jury of her peers,” A. Scott Bolden said in an email. “We will fight these charges vigorously, and I remain confident that once all the evidence is presented, that she will prevail against these bogus charges.”
The indictment does not immediately affect Mosby’s ability to remain in office. Under the Maryland constitution, a state’s attorney is subject to removal from office for incompetency, willful neglect of duty or misdemeanor in office, on conviction, or by a vote of two-thirds of the Senate, on the recommendation of the attorney general.
The federal probe followed a seven-month inquiry by the city’s inspector general examining Mosby’s travel, personal businesses and gifts. The report was released in February 2021.
Mosby is part of a new, growing generation of liberal prosecutors and a prominent voice among those seeking to address the country’s systemic inequity of mass incarceration.
Currently serving in her second term, Mosby gained national attention in 2015 when she charged six officers in the police-custody death of Gray, a 25-year-old Black man from West Baltimore. Gray’s death triggered days of unrest in Baltimore. None of the officers were convicted, which led to some criticism of Mosby from those who considered the charges an overreach.
Since then, her office has been both hailed and criticized for some of the aggressive actions it has taken to reform the criminal justice system and its response to the surge in violent crime in the city.
Last year, she announced she would stop prosecuting certain misdemeanor cases, including prostitution and drug possession. She said it was part of a shift to keep jails from overcrowding during the pandemic. Advocacy groups said the move would leave more resources to fight violent crime. Some community members worried about the effect the policy would have in neighborhoods impacted by drugs and violence.
Baltimore has recorded more than 300 homicides a year over the last seven years.
Zy Richardson, a spokeswoman for Mosby, said in a statement that her office will not be “distracted” by the indictment.
“State’s Attorney Mosby and the office remain completely focused and wholly committed to serving the citizens of our city,” she said. “Our leadership and our frontline prosecutors are some of the best in the world and we will not be distracted or sidetracked from our mission to make Baltimore a safer community.”
Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has repeatedly attacked Mosby over the years, blaming her for escalating violence in the city. During a recent appearance on Fox News Sunday, he called her a “big part of the problem.” “We have a prosecutor in Baltimore City who refuses to prosecute violent criminals and that’s at the root of the problem,” he said.
Mosby countered in a letter to Hogan, saying his own national ambitions drove him to use Baltimore City as a “punching bag” to “score political points with your conservative base.”
At age 34, Mosby became one of the youngest chief law enforcement officers in the country when she was elected in 2014. She is married to Baltimore City Council President Nick J. Mosby (D), who made a brief run for mayor in 2015. The former state delegate became council president in 2020.
The Mosbys have been the center of a federal probe for more than a year that has included the couple’s tax and business affairs.
Last year, a federal grand jury subpoenaed a range of financial records related to the couple, including tax returns, bank statements, credit card statements, loan documents and canceled checks, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Five months ago, the Sun reported that Marilyn Mosby’s personal attorney said a perjury charge was being pursued by the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal tax division over a signature on a document.
Bolden said officials refused to tell him anything more and accused them at the time of denying her due process.
On Thursday, he said that the indictment is “more telling for what is not in [it] rather than what is in there … a far cry from criminal tax evasion and tax-related charges that were at the heart of this federal investigation. More importantly, Ms. Mosby has never lied or made a false statement in connection the allegations contained in the charging document.”
He accused the U.S. attorney’s office and the DOJ’s Criminal Tax Division of conspiring to wrongfully indict on nontax-related charges.
Mosby’s indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney of Maryland Erek L. Barron, who was appointed last year as the state’s first Black lead federal prosecutor.
A date for her first appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore has not yet been set, the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Maryland said in a news release.
The indictment is the latest scandal for the beleaguered city that has long built a reputation for corruption in the police department and at City Hall.
In 2017, seven Baltimore City police officers from an elite gun-trace task force were indicted, accused of robbing people, extorting drug dealers, filing false reports and claiming fraudulent overtime.
In 2020, former mayor Catherine E. Pugh was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy stemming from profits she made from a self-published children’s book “Healthy Holly,” thousands of copies of which weren’t distributed. Pugh was the second mayor in a decade to resign over allegations of corruption.