Criminal Justice
Former Baltimore state’s attorney convicted for claiming pandemic hardship to get retirement cash
Then-Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby speaks during a news conference in December 2019 in Baltimore. Photo by Julio Cortez/The Associated Press.
Federal jurors in Greenbelt, Maryland, convicted former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby on two counts of perjury Thursday for lying about COVID-19 pandemic hardship to take early withdrawals totaling $90,000 from her city retirement fund.
Prosecutors alleged Mosby that withdrew the money to buy two Florida vacation properties, according to a Department of Justice press release. She was still earning her full salary of nearly $250,000 at the time.
Law360, the New York Times, the Baltimore Banner and the Washington Post are among the publications with coverage.
Mosby’s defense lawyers had claimed that she did experience hardship because a business that she formed called Mahogany Elite Enterprises was devastated by the pandemic, the articles report. The company was created to organize retreats for successful Black women.
But prosecutors said Mahogany Elite Enterprises never had revenue or clients, and there was no indication that it ever operated as a business.
Mosby, a 43-year-old Democrat, was the youngest top prosecutor of any major city in the country when she took office in 2015, according to the New York Times. She was known for her prosecution of police officers for alleged mistreatment of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old man who died after suffering a spinal injury in police custody. None of the officers was found guilty.
Mosby sought a third term in office, but she lost in the 2022 Democratic primary.
She was indicted in January 2022. According to the Baltimore Banner, Mosby contended that the prosecution was motivated by politics and race. Her lawyers also said she appears to be the only person in the country who faced criminal charges for wrongly accessing retirement funds during the pandemic.
Mosby still faces separate federal charges for making false mortgage applications when buying the two Florida homes in Kissimmee, Florida, and Longboat Key, Florida.
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