By Joseph Ax
Former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, 44, was sentenced to a year of home confinement for perjury and making false statements on a mortgage application, avoiding prison time. Mosby, elected in 2014 as the youngest chief prosecutor of a major U.S. city, gained national attention in 2015 by charging six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, a Black man who died from injuries sustained in police custody.
In November, Mosby was found guilty on two counts of perjury for falsely claiming financial hardship to withdraw $90,000 from her municipal retirement account under a pandemic-era law meant to help those financially affected by the crisis. She used this money to make down payments on two vacation homes in Florida. In a separate trial, she was convicted of lying on a mortgage application to secure a loan for one of these properties. However, she was acquitted of a related charge involving nondisclosure of federal tax issues on the second property's loan application.
Throughout her legal battles, Mosby has maintained her innocence, asserting that her prosecution was politically motivated to hinder her re-election efforts. Despite these claims, she lost her bid for a third term following her 2022 indictment.
Federal prosecutors had urged U.S. District Judge Lydia Griggsby to sentence Mosby to nearly two years in prison. Mosby's defense team argued for no prison time, citing her significant contributions to public service. Supporters, including prominent civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump and LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, spoke on her behalf during the sentencing hearing.
Aside from her home confinement, Mosby will be on supervised release for two additional years and must forfeit the Florida property obtained through her fraudulent mortgage application. She has also sought a pardon from the Biden administration.
Mosby’s high-profile prosecution of the officers involved in Freddie Gray's death, which resulted in no convictions, sparked widespread protests and riots in Baltimore, highlighting national concerns over police conduct towards minorities.
