Former Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby was found guilty on Thursday of two counts of perjury by a federal jury in Maryland (article available here).
Mosby, who was Baltimore's highest-ranking prosecutor from 2015 to earlier this year, was found guilty after she falsely claimed she was suffering from "financial hardship" because of the pandemic and obtained federal funds illegally, according to the Justice Department.
The DOJ said Mosby submitted COVID-19 related distribution requests for withdrawals of $40,000 and $50,000 respectively. The indictment says that Mosby did not experience any such financial hardships to access early retirement funds from the city and ultimately buy two Florida vacation homes.
Jurors began to deliberate on Thursday after opening statements on Monday. Mosby did not testify during the trial. Mosby called the charges a “political ploy.”
A lawyer who initially represented Mosby but later withdrew from the case, has described the charges as “bogus” and claimed the case is “rooted in personal, political and racial animus.”
Mosby is also charged with two counts of making false mortgage applications for the vacation homes in another federal case which will be tried separately. A date for that trial has not yet been set
Mosby was known for charging the six police officers involved in the Freddy Gray case, a Black man who died while in police custody in 2015. The officers were later either acquitted or their trials were declared a mistrial, despite the city paying Gray’s family $6.4 million.
Despite the failed prosecution, the case instigated a new push for stronger police accountability laws and set the precedent in Baltimore and in cities across the country for implementing police reform. Officers are now mandated to seat belt those in custody, call a medic when it’s requested, and intervene when fellow officers cross the line. Additionally, all police vans must be equipped with cameras.
In 2021, Mosby announced she would not prosecute drug possession and other low-level offenses, asserting there is “no public safety value.” For Black Americans, Mosby said, “These offenses can lead to a death sentence.”
Baltimore police union called the conviction "karma."