Marilyn Mosby sentenced for mortgage fraud and perjury

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A former Baltimore metropolis prosecutor who achieved a nationwide profile for charging law enforcement officials in a Black man’s demise was spared jail time in her sentence Thursday for perjury and mortgage fraud.

Democratic former State’s Lawyer Marilyn Mosby’s sentence consists of 12 months of residence confinement, 100 hours of group service and three years of supervised launch.

After the sentencing listening to, Mosby hugged her supporters, a few of whom applauded when the choose introduced the sentence.

“I’m simply so extremely grateful,” Mosby advised dozens of supporters outdoors the courthouse. “This isn’t over, however God was right here at the moment.”

Mosby was convicted of mendacity about her funds to make early withdrawals from retirement funds throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and fraudulently claiming that her personal $5,000 was a present from her then-husband as she closed on a Florida condominium.

Mosby, 44, has maintained her innocence. She declined to deal with U.S. District Choose Lydia Kay Griggsby earlier than studying her sentence. Her legal professionals mentioned they’d enchantment her conviction and sentence whereas they search a presidential pardon,

It’s a tragic day for Mosby and her household, the choose advised her. “It’s additionally a tragic day for town of Baltimore,” mentioned Griggsby, including that Mosby displayed a “sample of dishonesty” whereas serving in a public workplace.

She additionally famous that her crimes didn’t contain any taxpayer cash and mentioned the prospect of separating Mosby from her two younger daughters “weighed very closely” on her determination.

Griggsby questioned Assistant U.S. Lawyer Sean Delaney when he argued for a 20-month sentence. “Are there victims and who’re they?” she requested.

“It’s a superb query, your honor,” Delaney responded. “I get it. This isn’t an embezzlement case.”

Delaney mentioned it harms the general public when a public official lies below oath: “All residents are victims when their public officers lie,” he mentioned.

Delaney additionally denied claims by Mosby’s supporters that she is a sufferer of selective prosecution and mentioned she has repeatedly lied in regards to the case and prosecutors’ dealing with of it.

“These lies reveal that Marilyn Mosby is unremorseful, that she has no regard for the reality,” Delaney mentioned.

Mosby gained nationwide consideration when she charged officers within the 2015 demise of Freddie Grey, which led to riots and protests within the metropolis. After three officers have been acquitted, Mosby’s workplace dropped prices towards the opposite three officers. She in the end served two phrases as state’s lawyer earlier than she was indicted and misplaced reelection.

James Wyda, one in every of Mosby’s attorneys, argued that Mosby is “in a class of 1,” a novel case.

“This isn’t a public corruption case,” he mentioned. “There was no monetary loss to any sufferer.”

Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump advised the choose that imprisoning Mosby for a victimless, “minor white-collar crime” could be a “grave injustice.”

Crump mentioned she “dared to problem the established order” whereas in workplace and recommended that prosecutors like her are typically focused for his or her “pursuit of equal justice.”

“The prosecution of Marilyn Mosby appears meant to ship a chilling message to our progressive prosecutors,” he mentioned.

In 2020, on the peak of the pandemic, Mosby withdrew $90,000 from Baltimore metropolis’s deferred compensation plan and used it to make down funds on trip properties in Kissimmee and Longboat Key, Florida.

Prosecutors argued that Mosby improperly accessed the funds below provisions of the Coronavirus Support, Reduction and Financial Safety Act by falsely claiming that the pandemic had harmed her travel-oriented facet enterprise.

In courtroom paperwork, Mosby’s legal professionals argued that the retirement funds got here from her personal earnings and that nobody was defrauded as a result of she paid an early withdrawal penalty and all federal taxes on the cash. The federal government mentioned that cash remained the property of town till she was legally eligible, and her perjury harmed everybody who adopted the principles throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Mosby’s mortgage fraud conviction stems from a $5,000 “reward letter” she submitted when taking a mortgage to purchase the Longboat Key property. Prosecutors mentioned the letter falsely said that Mosby’s husband was giving her a $5,000 reward for the closing when it really was her personal cash.

“With out the reward letter, the mortgage would by no means have been offered and Ms. Mosby wouldn’t have obtained the property. No reward letter, no mortgage,” prosecutors wrote.

Federal prosecutors additionally mentioned she deserves jail as a result of in contrast to others convicted of white-collar crimes, she’s expressed no regret or contrition and has tried to delegitimize the case towards her.

“Ms. Mosby was charged and convicted as a result of she selected to repeatedly break the legislation, not due to her politics or insurance policies,” prosecutors wrote.

Mosby’s attorneys urged the choose to spare her from jail. They mentioned she is the one public official who has been prosecuted in Maryland for federal offenses “that entail no sufferer, no monetary loss, and no use of public funds.”

“Jail is just not justice for Marilyn Mosby,” her legal professionals wrote.

A number of of Mosby’s supporters, together with two of her siblings, urged the choose to point out leniency.

“We want Marilyn Mosby in our group. We want her expertise, her data, her coaching,” mentioned J. Wyndal Gordon, a felony protection lawyer who has recognized Mosby for a decade. He mentioned Mosby was prosecuted for crimes which have “no actual sufferer” and have been unrelated to her public workplace.

“We’re right here as a result of they weren’t happy that they discovered nothing once they investigated her,” Gordon mentioned.

Mosby utilized for a presidential pardon earlier this month. In a letter to President Joe Biden, the Congressional Black Caucus expressed help for her trigger.