Court overturns ex-state attorney's mortgage fraud conviction but upholds perjury convictions

Independent

2 days ago

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned a mortgage fraud conviction of former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who gained a national profile for charging police officers in a Black man's death. But the court upheld two perjury convictions relating to real estate she purchased.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision that jury instruction in the mortgage fraud case was 'erroneously overbroad" concerning the proper court venue. The case was tried in Maryland relating to property she bought in Florida.
'As a result of our decision to vacate the mortgage fraud conviction, the forfeiture order related to Appellant's Longboat Key Condo, which was obtained as the fruit of the alleged mortgage fraud, is also vacated,' Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote.
Judge Paul Niemeyer dissented in part. While the majority ruling contended that the government failed to introduce evidence sufficient to show that the crime was committed in Maryland and that the district court's venue instruction was erroneous, Niemeyer wrote he would have rejected both arguments and affirmed the district court's judgment.
The court upheld two perjury convictions, saying it found 'no error in the district court's adjudication of Appellant's perjury convictions.'
The court rejected arguments by Mosby that the admitted evidence misled jurors.
'In sum, the district court did not err in permitting the Government to introduce evidence as to how Appellant utilized the funds she withdrew from her retirement accounts,' the court said. 'That evidence was probative as to whether Appellant suffered 'adverse financial consequences.' And the probative value of that evidence was not substantially outweighed by a risk of undue prejudice or jury confusion.'
Mosby, 45, was spared jail time at her sentencing last year. Her sentence included 12 months of home confinement, which she concluded last month. She also was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and three years of supervised release.
Mosby was convicted of lying about her finances to make early withdrawals from retirement funds during the COVID-19 pandemic and fraudulently claiming that her own $5,000 was a gift from her then-husband as she closed on a Florida condominium.
Mosby, who was Baltimore's state's attorney from 2015 to 2023, has maintained her innocence.
Mosby gained national attention when she charged officers in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, which led to riots and protests in the city. After three officers were acquitted, Mosby's office dropped charges against the other three officers. She ultimately served two terms as state's attorney before she was indicted and lost reelection.
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Mosby withdrew $90,000 from Baltimore city's deferred compensation plan and used it to make down payments on vacation homes in Kissimmee and Longboat Key, Florida.
Prosecutors argued that Mosby improperly accessed the funds under provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act by falsely claiming that the pandemic had harmed her travel-oriented side business.
Mosby's lawyers argued that the retirement funds came from her own income and that no one was defrauded because she paid an early-withdrawal penalty and all federal taxes on the money. The government said that money remained the property of the city until she was legally eligible, and her perjury harmed everyone who followed the rules during the coronavirus pandemic.
The mortgage fraud conviction overturned by the appeals court on Friday stemmed from a $5,000 'gift letter' she submitted when taking a loan to buy the Longboat Key property. Prosecutors said the letter falsely stated that Mosby's husband was giving her a $5,000 gift for the closing when it actually was her own money.
Mosby applied for a presidential pardon last year. In a letter to then-President Joe Biden, the Congressional Black Caucus expressed support for her cause. Biden did not grant a pardon.