Former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby found herself in hot water after being convicted of mortgage fraud and perjury charges. Despite being ordered to a year of home detention, Mosby was seen at a barbecue event in Maryland with friends, family, and supporters. The court-ordered home detention only allows Mosby to be confined to her home in Fells Point, with exceptions for doctor appointments, court appearances, child care responsibilities, employment-related reasons, and meetings with her legal team. While Mosby’s legal team filed a brief with the federal appeals court seeking to clear her name, federal prosecutors alleged that she made false statements on loan applications when purchasing two Florida vacation homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mosby’s legal troubles began when she was convicted of mortgage fraud in February, where she testified that she unintentionally made false statements on loan applications to purchase the Florida properties. In November, she was convicted of perjury after falsely claiming financial hardship during the pandemic to withdraw money from the city’s retirement fund. The judge sentenced Mosby to a year of home detention and three years of supervised release in May. Despite the restrictions, Mosby was seen partying at a barbecue in Clarksville, Maryland, wearing an ankle monitor. Mosby’s legal team filed a brief with the federal appeals court seeking to clear her name by finding flaws in the trials where she was convicted of perjury and mortgage fraud.
Mosby’s mortgage fraud trial was originally supposed to take place in Baltimore but was moved to Greenbelt, Maryland, due to concerns over biased potential jurors influenced by media coverage. During the trial, both Mosby and her ex-husband testified, with her ex-husband admitting to lying about their federal tax debt out of embarrassment. Mosby claimed she did not make any false statements intentionally and signed the loan applications in good faith. However, her failure to disclose the debt on the applications led to the mortgage fraud charges. Prosecutors alleged that Mosby lied about receiving a $5,000 gift from her husband to secure a lower interest rate, ultimately leading to her conviction.
The court-ordered home detention requires Mosby to remain confined to her home in Fells Point, with exceptions for essential tasks such as doctor appointments, court appearances, and child care responsibilities. Despite the restrictions, Mosby was spotted at a barbecue event in Howard County, Maryland, without obtaining prior approval for attendance. Mosby’s legal team filed a brief with the federal appeals court seeking to clear her name, claiming that her conviction was the result of an ill-advised and ill-conceived prosecution. Mosby alleges that she was unfairly targeted during the investigation, although the brief does not suggest that she was the victim of racially or politically motivated prosecution.
Federal prosecutors had filed criminal charges against Mosby after allegations that she committed mortgage fraud by claiming a pandemic-related financial hardship to withdraw money from her retirement account and using the funds for down payments on two Florida properties. Prosecutors also accused Mosby of repeatedly lying on mortgage applications to secure loans for the properties. Despite Mosby’s claims of innocence and assertions that she signed the applications in good faith, her failure to disclose information led to her conviction. The appeal filed by Mosby’s legal team seeks to have her convictions for perjury and mortgage fraud overturned.
