Convicted fraudster and former Baltimore District Attorney Marilyn Mosby will avoid jail time for perjury and mortgage fraud after facing up to 40 years in prison.
U.S. District Court Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby said the fact that Mosby is a mother of two daughters helped motivate her decision to sentence the former prosecutor to 12 months of home detention, three years of supervised release, and 100 hours of community service in lieu of prison, WBAL TV reported.
Though Mosby has maintained her innocence, she was found guilty of taking advantage of the CARES Act — the first coronavirus relief bill — in May 2020, taking $36,000 from the city’s retirement account then and putting it towards purchasing a $428,000 rental property in Florida, Breitbart News reported.
Prosecutors proved that Mosby lied about having a federal tax lien when purchasing the Longboat Key property and also falsely said that it was a second home, which lowered the interest rate.
Furthermore, she also lied about receiving a $5,000 gift from her then-husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby, to obtain a mortgage loan. Prosecutors brought evidence that showed she transferred the funds to him and then sent the money back to herself to make it look like it was a present.
The disgraced DA lost her reelection bid in 2022 following her indictments, while Nick Mosby was never charged but said he “made mistakes” and was not a “perfect person” following his ex-wife’s convictions.
“The findings of two juries that you did something wrong, breached a public trust, that is very difficult to restore,” Griggsby told Mosby during the Thursday sentencing hearing.
The judge said Mosby had victimized people with her pattern of dishonesty, though “not in the traditional sense.”
“You have an absolute right to maintain your innocence and should not be punished in any way for doing so,” Griggsby said.
Mosby had several character witnesses, including progressive civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
“To sentence her to prison being convicted for minor, non-violent offenses with no victims would be a grave injustice and it would magnify the trauma of her two beautiful daughters,” he said in a statement. “The crux of the matter is … a minor white-collar crime in which many others have been convicted of and sentenced to … a slap on the wrist.”
Mosby and her young daughters tearfully thanked their supporters outside of the courtroom following the no-jail outcome, with the former prosecutor saying, “Thank you. I swear, God sent angels into my life to see me when I felt like I wasn’t being seen, and I’m just so grateful to each and every one of you.”
“[God] has touched the heart of this judge and allowed me to go home to my babies,” she added.
One of her daughters took to the podium and told reporters the ordeal had inspired her to become a prosecutor herself when she’s older.
Mosby was ordered to forfeit her Longboat Key condominium — that she had been renting out for profit — shortly before her sentencing. Now, more than 90 percent of the proceeds will go to the federal government.
As she still claims to be innocent, she has asked President Joe Biden for a presidential pardon.
