JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby will serve a three-year probation term for mortgage fraud and perjury. Her conviction stems from improper use of federal funds available during the COVID pandemic. Mosby was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Maryland, and here to tell us more is Wambui Kamau of member station WYPR. Welcome.
WAMBUI KAMAU, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So before her downfall, Marilyn Mosby received just a lot of national attention, and that is not necessarily common for a state's attorney. Can you just remind us of her story?
KAMAU: Yeah. So Marilyn Mosby rose to prominence - national prominence as one of the youngest-ever-elected state's attorneys. And at the beginning of her tenure, she actually ended up prosecuting six police officers because of Freddie Gray. He was an unarmed Black man who died in police custody. Now, this happened almost 10 years ago, where it was very unusual to see a prosecutor prosecuting police officers. She was one of the first to do so, and so she was considered progressive. It was unsuccessful because none of the police officers were convicted.
SUMMERS: Right, I remember that story well. And today, Marilyn Mosby was sentenced for financial crimes. What did she do?
KAMAU: So during the pandemic, there was a provision under the CARES Act where, if you were facing a financial hardship, you could withdraw money from your retirement accounts early and not face any penalties. So that's exactly what Marilyn Mosby did. She certified that she was experiencing financial hardship and withdrew a total of $90,000, which she then used to buy two investment properties in Florida. Now, at the time, Mosby earned about $240,000 annually as Baltimore's state's attorney, and prosecutors ended up investigating. And they found that, during that time, her income actually increased while even employees in her office were furloughed. So then they pressed charges for perjury and also for mortgage fraud because, on one of those properties, she said that it would be a primary residence when, really, it was an investment property.
SUMMERS: OK. Tell us, Wambui, what happened in court today.
KAMAU: So today, one of the first things that the judge ordered was to seize one of the condos that she - there's a condo that she bought for $476,000. It has appreciated in value since then. And the judge ruled that Mosby would not have been able to afford this condo if she hadn't submitted a false gift letter. So now the plan with that is to sell this property, and the government will get 90% of the proceeds, and 10% will go back to Marilyn Mosby to cover her down payment.
Another thing that happened in court today is that her sentence was reduced. Originally, Mosby was facing a 20-month prison term, but the judge said that it would be more appropriate for her to face 12 to 18 months.
SUMMERS: Right.
KAMAU: Now, ultimately, we know that she has been sentenced to three years of probation for both charges. And in that three years...
SUMMERS: OK.
KAMAU: ...She will also have a year of home - yes - home arrest.
SUMMERS: That's right. Wambui Kamau of member station WYPR - thank you so much.
KAMAU: Thank you, Juana. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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