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Attorney Who Turned Baltimore Into a Circus Over Freddie Gray Faces Slew of Federal Charges

Well, it looks like the call was coming from inside the house. The Freddie Gray saga, which contributed to the Black Lives Matter movement, has taken a wild turn. Gray died of a spinal cord injury while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department, which led to days of rioting in 2015. The National Guard was deployed. In the end, six police officers were indicted on charges ranging from second-degree murder to manslaughter. Attorney Marilyn Mosby was tasked with delivering justice. Instead, a circus ensued. Four trials were held, with no convictions. The other two officers had their charges dropped. After that, the other four had their charges dropped. Allegations of prosecutorial misconduct were lobbed. Was this to prevent more rioting, or was it about finding the truth? Politics were fraught during this time, and now Mosby is facing federal charges herself regarding a mortgage application (via Baltimore Sun):

A federal grand jury has indicted Baltimore’s top prosecutor Marilyn J. Mosby on charges she lied on a mortgage loan application to buy a Florida property and made false statements to obtain a COVID-related withdrawal from her retirement savings that was used for the purchase.

The cloud of indictment has loomed over Mosby for nearly a year, since federal prosecutors issued subpoenas in March for a wide range of financial records from her and her husband, City Council President Nick Mosby. Marilyn Mosby is now charged with four felonies that could bring prison time, and with her election for a third term coming in June.

The indictment alleges that Mosby, 41, sought a $40,000 withdrawal from her city retirement account in May 2020, citing that she had experienced financial hardship due to the pandemic. In fact, her salary that year had increased by $10,000 to $248,000.

“Mosby had not experienced adverse financial consequences stemming from the coronavirus as a result of ‘being quarantined, furloughed or laid off’ or ‘having reduced work hours’ or ‘due to lack of childcare’ or ‘the closing or reduction of hours of a business I own or operate’” - all perquisites for obtaining the loan, which Mosby attested to under penalty of perjury,” federal prosecutors wrote in the indictment.

What a turn of events, huh? The woman tasked with putting away supposedly bad cops has become ensnared in some legal drama. Law and order cannot be brought into the cities if this is the caliber of attorney tasked with that job. We’ll see how things pan out. Mosby’s defenders say the case against her is weak sauce, but this is Baltimore. Corruption isn’t anything new.