Federal jury convicts former Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby on 2 counts of perjury

Federal jury convicts former Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby on 2 counts of perjury
By Emma Tucker, CNN

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s former top prosecutor who was thrust into the national spotlight after charging six police officers in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, was found guilty of two counts of perjury for making false statements on loan applications for two Florida vacation homes, the Justice Department said.

Mosby, 42, pleaded not guilty last year to two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements after authorities said she applied for the loans to withdraw money from her retirement accounts, tapping a CARES Act provision intended for those hurt financially during the Covid-19 pandemic, prosecutors said.

The former prosecutor is facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each of the two counts of perjury, the Justice Department said.

Mosby is also charged with two counts of making false mortgage applications for the vacation homes in another federal case which will be tried separately. A date for that trial has not yet been set, federal prosecutors said.

A federal grand jury indicted Mosby in January 2022 after authorities said she lied on the application by indicating she “adverse financial consequences” due to the pandemic – even though she earned a gross salary of $247,955.58 that was “never reduced” in 2020, according to an indictment. She also failed to disclose she owed $45,000 in federal back taxes, it says.

She also allegedly said she would be the primary resident at one of the homes in order to secure a lower rate when she had already entered into an agreement with a rental management firm, the indictment says. She sold one of the homes for a $150,000 profit, The Baltimore Sun reported.

At the time, Mosby called the charges a “political ploy” and said she is “unequivocally innocent.”

CNN has contacted Mosby’s attorney for comment.

During closing arguments, Mosby’s lead attorney and federal public defender Jams Wyda said the case is “about a three-page form and what was in Marilyn Mosby’s mind when she filled it out,” CNN affiliate WBAL-TV reported. “The government spent time on things that don’t matter.”