On May 7, the NAACP, along with Black Voters Matter, the National Urban League and several other prominent civil rights organizations, collectively called upon President Biden to promptly grant a presidential pardon to former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
In a lengthy letter published Tuesday, the NAACP and over 13 civil rights organizations fighting for the acquittal of Mosby’s mortgage fraud and perjury charges, argued that the former Baltimore official was “unfairly targeted and unjustly convicted” by the federal government as punishment for her aggressive push to prosecute the six officers involved in the fatal 2015 arrest of Freddie Gray.
“We’ve watched, decade after decade, as Black Americans have faced wrongful prosecution at the hands of those who seek to promote injustice. The only thing Marilyn Mosby is guilty of is the desire to provide her family with a better life,” NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, stated in the pardon request letter.
“The sad reality is, as Black women take their rightful places in positions of power, dark forces seek to tear down both their progress, and that of our community. The NAACP refuses to stand idly by as injustice takes the wheel, driving us down a path of further disparity.”
What was Mosby convicted of?
In February, a federal jury convicted Mosby, 44, with a federal charge of mortgage fraud connected to the 2021 purchase of a condominium in Long Boat Key, Florida, the United States Attorney’s office noted. The FBI claimed Mosby filed a false mortgage application for a $428,400 mortgage during her tenure as the Baltimore State’s Attorney, attempting to secure a lower interest rate.
According to prosecutors, Mosby inaccurately claimed to have received a $5,000 gift from her husband for the property purchase, allegedly to obtain a reduced interest rate, as revealed during trial proceedings. Prosecutors believe Mosby did not receive such a gift. Instead, they claimed she transferred $5,000 to her husband, who subsequently transferred the same amount back to her. She faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the conviction.
Mosby was previously convicted on two counts of perjury in 2023 for withdrawing funds from the City of Baltimore’s Deferred Compensation Plan, her retirement account, alleging she suffered adverse financial consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. The act tacks on five years in federal prison, for both counts, on top of her mortgage fraud conviction.
Her sentencing is scheduled for May 23.
During an interview with The Breakfast Club on May 8, Mosby maintained her innocence. Angela Rye called for a Presidential pardon.
“I’ve been accused of doing something that I have not done. I’m innocent. I’m facing 40 years for withdrawing funds from my retirement savings. The United States government, a global superpower, is actually coming for me,” Mosby, who was joined by social justice advocate and reporter, Angela Rye, said.
Rye called upon President Biden to pardon the 44-year-old politician.
In 2015, Mosby pursued charges against six officers in connection with Gray’s death, accusing them of various offenses ranging from misconduct in office to manslaughter and second-degree depraved-heart murder, the Appeal noted.
The charges were centered on allegations that the officers failed to secure Gray in a seatbelt while placing him “head first, feet shackled” into a police van after he was arrested for carrying an illegal switchblade, Mosby told The Breakfast Club on Wednesday.
During the ride to the police station, CT and MRI scans revealed that Gray suffered from a fractured neck and pinched spinal cord, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Additionally, Mosby accused the officers of failing to seek medical aid for the Black Baltimore resident when he arrived unconscious at the station.
Her legal efforts in criminal court ultimately fell short. Following a mistrial and three acquittals on all charges, Mosby decided to drop the charges against the remaining three officers in 2016.
“I charged those police officers and at that time, I was one of the first prosecutors in the county to attempt to hold police officers accountable for the death of a Black man,” Mosby said, while discussing her impact on the case. “That wasn’t happening in this country. And so, it immediately came with a great deal of backlash. I got hate mail and death threats.”
Baltimore agreed to a $6.4 million settlement with Gray’s family.
