Top Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby pleads not guilty to 4 charges related to purchase of two Florida homes

By Taylor Romine, CNN

Marilyn Mosby, the chief prosecutor for the city of Baltimore, pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements on a loan application to purchase two homes, according to her attorney.

Federal authorities allege Mosby used a financial hardship withdrawal option from her retirement accounts — provided under the CARES Act — claiming that she “experienced adverse financial consequences” due to the pandemic even though she earned a gross salary of $247,955.58 that was “never reduced” in 2020, according to an indictment.

Mosby also failed to disclose she owed $45,000 in federal back taxes, according to the indictment. And she allegedly said she would be the primary resident at one of the homes in order to secure a lower rate when she had already entered into an agreement with a rental management firm, the indictment says. She sold one of the homes for a $150,000 profit, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Mosby has called the charges a “political ploy” and that she is “unequivocally innocent.”

Defense attorney A. Scott Bolden called the charges “a political witch hunt” and requested a trial within 60 days, citing Mosby’s election in June. The case needs to be tried and decided as soon as possible, he said.

US Magistrate Judge James Mazzone deferred the decision to US District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby, who will be presiding over the case, according to Bolden.

Each party must file pretrial motions by February 18.

Federal prosecutors have not commented on the case and have said the indictment speaks for itself.

Since taking the helm at the city prosecutor’s office in 2015, just months before Freddie Gray died from spinal injuries he suffered in the back of a police van, Mosby has called for reform while dealing with one firestorm to the next, it seems.

This is her second reelection campaign.

Freddie Gray threw Mosby into the spotlight

Before becoming state’s attorney, Mosby graduated from Tuskegee University and Boston College Law School. During her studies at the latter, the Boston native worked in her hometown Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and in two US attorneys’ offices.

After graduation, she prosecuted felonies in the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office from 2006 to 2011 before entering the corporate realm as a civil litigator. In the summer of 2013, she decided to run for the Baltimore state’s attorney post. She won and took office in January 2015.

On April 12, 2015, Gray was arrested, and video showing the 25-year-old screaming as officers dragged him to a police van sparked questions. Outrage ensued when Gray died a week later. The city was consumed with protests, some of which were hijacked by looters and rioters.

Enter Mosby, who was hailed as a hero and inspiration when, less than two weeks after Gray was killed, she charged six Baltimore police officers with misconduct along with assault, manslaughter or murder counts in the young man’s death.

While Gray’s death served as a rallying point for those decrying police brutality, none of the officers was convicted, despite the city paying Gray’s family $6.4 million. Three were tried and acquitted, prompting Mosby to drop charges against the remaining three because of the “dismal likelihood” they’d be convicted.

Within weeks, five of the officers sued Mosby, alleging false arrest, defamation and other misdeeds. A federal appeals court ruled Mosby had immunity, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, WBAL reported.

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CNN’s Eliott C. McLaughlin and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.