As the former Baltimore City State’s Attorney was whisked into a car Thursday by her defense team, a police detail and supporters, she told reporters “I’m blessed.” This in reaction to being found guilty of two counts of perjury. Jurors took less than a day to convict Marilyn Mosby of lying about financial hardship — related to the COVID-19 pandemic — to obtain money early from a retirement account. She withdrew a total of $90,000 to put a down payment on two vacation homes in Florida.
For that, Mosby faces the prospect of spending 10 years imprisoned. That’s not all, however. The former top prosecutor has an upcoming mortgage fraud trial. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, she faces up to 30 years in federal prison for each of two remaining counts.
No sentencing date has been set for Mosby’s current case, nor has a trial date been set, for the future one.
Appearing on WYPR’s Midday Nick Mosby, the soon-to-be-ex-husband and city council president for Baltimore City, declined to comment on how Thursday’s verdict is impacting his family. The pair have two daughters together. “I’m focusing on leading the council,” he said.
“I’m just focusing on my family at this time. I’m not really wanting to talk about personal information, like the status of me and my wife. I’m focusing on issues like moving the city forward in the redistricting process, at this point.”
During the weeklong trial, prosecutors called on the city’s head of payroll, the executive director of the city’s retirement system and an FBI forensic accountant to prove their case. These witnesses testified that Mosby was never furloughed during the time in question, one of the criteria to qualify for the withdrawals. The accountant added that Mosby never spent the money on any kind of emergency.
The defense cross examined the head of the city’s retirement system to prove how she spent the money didn’t matter. They called on one of Mosby’s friends, and Zy Richardson, who was communications director at the time Mosby was in office. Through their testimony, jurors heard about the genesis of Mahogany Elite LLC and how Richardson advised Mosby operating the travel agency would be “bad for politics.”
WYPR obtained evidence jurors had to consider in their decision. Click here to view documents and listen to recorded calls played during the trial.
