High-profile Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby indicted

FILE - Maryland State Attorney Marilyn Mosby speaks during a news conference announcing the indictment of correctional officers, on Dec. 3, 2019, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

BALTIMORE — A federal grand jury indicted Baltimore's top prosecutor Thursday on charges of perjury and making false mortgage applications in the purchase of two Florida vacation homes, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland said.

The four-count indictment alleges that Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby lied about meeting qualifications for coronavirus-related distributions from a city retirement plan in 2020. Federal prosecutors also allege that Mosby lied on 2020 application forms for mortgages to purchase a home in Kissimmee, Florida, and a condominium in Long Boat Key, Florida.

Mosby, 41, is a high-profile prosecutor who has aligned herself with criminal-justice reformers. She rose to national prominence in 2015 when she pursued criminal charges against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, a Black man whose death in police custody triggered riots and protests. None of the officers were convicted.

The indictment of Mosby, who is married to Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby, comes months after news outlets reported that federal officials subpoenaed the Maryland State Board of Elections seeking business and campaign finance records related to the couple dating back to 2014. An attorney representing the couple alleged misconduct by federal prosecutors in a letter to the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility and sought a suspension of the criminal investigation into the couple. Nick Mosby has not been charged with any crimes.

“We will fight these charges vigorously, and I remain confident that once all the evidence is presented, that she will prevail against these bogus charges - charges that are rooted in personal, political and racial animus five months from her election,” said A. Scott Bolden, Mosby's attorney, in a statement Thursday night.

In 2020, Mosby submitted requests for one-time withdrawals of US$40,000 and $50,000, respectively, from Baltimore's deferred compensation plans, according to the indictment. It alleges that Mosby falsely certified that she experienced adverse financial hardships because of the coronavirus, but actually received her nearly $250,000 salary in 2020. The indictment also alleges that in 2020 and 2021, Mosby made false statements in applications for a $490,500 mortgage to purchase a home in Kissimmee, Florida, and for a $428,400 mortgage to purchase a condominium in Long Boat Key, Florida.

Mosby was required to disclose liabilities, but didn't disclose that she had unpaid federal taxes from a number of previous years and that in March 2020, the Internal Revenue Service placed a lien against all property and rights to property belonging to the Mosbys in the amount of $45,022, the amount of unpaid taxes Mosby and her husband owed the IRS as that time.

About a week before she closed on the Kissimmee home, Mosby executed an agreement with a vacation home management company giving the company control over the rental of the property, according to the indictment. She later signed a “second home rider” which provided that the borrower occupy and use the property as their second home and maintain exclusive control over the ownership of the property, the indictment said, alleging that by falsely executing the rider, Mosby could get a lower interest rate.

Mosby's initial appearance hasn't been scheduled yet, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The two perjury counts each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and the two mortgage-related counts each carry a maximum of 30 years in prison.