Now jailbound ex-Baltimore DA Marilyn Mosby faces losing luxury Florida vacation condo she bought fraudulently as feds seek to seize it, two days after she requested presidential pardon
Former Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby may be on the verge of losing her Florida vacation condo — the same property she fraudulently purchased, just days after revealing she plans to seek a presidential pardon for a to avoid long prison sentences.
Mosby, 44, purchased the property in February 2021 for $476,000, but the FBI now wants to seize it and sell the property.
If any profit comes from the sale, Mosby would get back her original $47,600 down payment, prosecutors have said.
During her trial for perjury and mortgage fraud, the court heard how Mosby lied on her mortgage application for a $428,000 loan for the Longboat Key, Florida, home, including falsely claiming that she had received a $5,000 gift from her husband.
Prosecutors said she claimed to have received the $5,000 to secure a lower interest rate, when in reality she sent the money to her husband first so he could then send it back to her in what was seen as a financial magic trick .
This luxury condo in Longboat Key, Florida, was the property Mosby lied about on mortgage documents
Former prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, 44, faces up to 40 years in prison. She requests a presidential pardon, maintaining her innocence and citing political motives for her prosecution
Federal prosecutors have now filed a notice that they will seek to seize the property, likely on the same day as Mosby’s May 23 sentencing.
Located on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the condominium is nicknamed ‘The Tree House’.
The house is one of two Florida vacation homes that Mosby bought during the coronavirus pandemic with money withdrawn from her city retirement account.
Mosby took approximately $90,000 to cover payments on the two homes.
But prosecutors said Mosby lied to make early withdrawals about claims that she had suffered a pandemic-related financial setback under the CARES Act, federal legislation that provided emergency economic relief during the health crisis.
Prosecutors said Mosby earned a gross annual salary of nearly $250,000 as a prosecutor for Baltimore at the time.
During her trial, prosecutor Aaron Zelinsky explained how she repeatedly lied on the mortgage applications, telling the court, “She was the top prosecutor in the city of Baltimore and oversaw hundreds of attorneys.
“You know what prosecutors know a lot about? Fraud. Mortgage fraud.”
A federal jury agreed that Mosby convicted her of two counts of perjury last November.
In January, the government alleged at its second trial that Mosby had repeatedly lied by applying for mortgages on the two properties, which totaled nearly $1 million.
Mosby already sold the second house for $696,000. She paid $545,000 for the eight-bedroom home in Kissimmee, near Disney World, in September 2020.
Mosby falsely claimed she was facing COVID-related financial difficulties in order to use her city pension fund to help her purchase a property in Kissimmee. She claimed this house was a second home to get a lower interest rate
Mosby got about $90,000 from her retirement account to tie up the payments on the two houses. But at the time, she was already earning a gross annual salary of nearly $250,000 as Baltimore’s state attorney.
Mosby faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. A conviction on a single charge of filing a false mortgage application carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.
Mosby also faces up to five years in prison for each of the two counts of perjury.
Mosby has said she was innocent of wrongdoing and was the victim of a politically motivated prosecution by opponents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland, who aimed to spoil her re-election chances.
Earlier this week, Mosby revealed she was seeking a presidential pardon.
The ex-prosecutor insisted MSNBCs Joy Reid said she did “absolutely nothing wrong, nothing illegal, nothing criminal,” and argued that Biden’s dismissal of her conviction would be “appropriate.”
Mosby said her conviction was a “political attack” against her, with Reid citing her decision to charge police officers involved in the controversial 2015 death of Freddie Gray as the reason she “found herself on the other side of the courtroom ‘.
Mosby, seen after her conviction in February, insisted she did “absolutely nothing wrong, nothing illegal, nothing criminal,” and argued that Biden’s dismissal of her conviction would be “appropriate.”
In her interview with MSNBC, Reid said she was baffled that Mosby was being prosecuted for withdrawing “her own money,” suggesting that Mosby’s past run-ins with Republicans may have made her a target.
Mosby, a progressive whose soft stance on crime was blamed for rising crime in murder-ridden Baltimore, was notably indicted by Democratic U.S. Attorney Erek Barron and her trial was overseen by Biden-nominated Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby, reports Capital Gazette.
Speaking about herself in the third person, Mosby said she sees her past actions as a prosecutor as the reason she should go to prison. She added that she hopes the people she fought for will now stand up to support her.
“If they can do this to Marilyn Mosby, who had the audacity to challenge the status quo, they can do this to anyone,” she said.
“I want this justice system that I fought so hard for to equalize and balance the scales of justice, where the business model is built on the backs of black and brown people.”
Mosby came under sharp criticism in law enforcement circles for her handling of the 2015 death of Freddie Gray (pictured), who died in police custody. Mosby failed to convict the officers involved, and a judge is said to have “laughed at her.”
Her call for a presidential pardon comes after an online petition to President Biden gathered nearly 10,000 signatures, which she did not launch herself but reportedly promoted.
Despite feeling that a pardon would be “appropriate,” she also reportedly has not filed with the Office of the Pardon Attorney, which reviews cases and makes recommendations to the president.
When asked about the pardon, Mosby added, “I know that I have done absolutely nothing wrong, nothing criminal, and that I have been separated from my children for 40 years as a result of withdrawing $90,000 of my own money . feeling.’
“They did this to demonize, slander and break me… I have lost everything.”
But while Mosby claims her conviction was unjust, her critics say her “failed leadership” during her time in office worsened Baltimore’s crime problems.
Gray’s death sparked riots and looting across Baltimore, injuring 113 police officers and arresting 486 people, as critics claimed Mosby caved to pressure to falsely file charges.
“The consequences of that failed leadership will last for generations,” Medal of Valor recipient and police officer Dave Goitia told DailyMail.com after her conviction in February.
“The victims are the people of Baltimore who are experiencing violent crimes because of a police department that is completely demoralized.”
In particular, Mosby was criticized for her handling of the controversial 2015 death of Freddie Gray, whose death in police custody led to rioting and looting across the city until Mosby filed charges against six police officers who arrested him.
After failing to convict one of the police officers amid claims the charges were unjust — and the DOJ declining to press charges after a federal investigation — some in law enforcement claimed she caved to pressure from rioters and the labeled officers as ‘sacrificial lambs’.
Mosby also had her own run-ins with the law, including a $45,000 tax lien on one of her fraudulent properties in Florida, despite reportedly making nearly $250,000 a year.
Mosby lost reelection in 2022 after she was indicted by a federal grand jury, with her successor Ivan Bates taking a tougher stance on crime.