A judge on Friday denied a motion to throw out the mortgage fraud case against former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, rejecting an argument that federal prosecutors had failed to establish that the case shouldn’t have been tried in Maryland.

Mosby, 44, a Democrat who served two terms as the city’s top prosecutor from 2015-2023, was found guilty on Feb. 6 in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt of one count of making a false statement on a loan application.

The jury determined that Mosby lied when she submitted a letter to the mortgage company claiming that her husband at the time, Nick, who’s president of Baltimore City Council, had agreed to gift her $5,000 at closing toward a condominium in Longboat Key, Florida. They’ve since divorced.

But jurors found her not guilty of a second count of making a false statement on a loan application related to her earlier purchase of a home in Kissimmee, Florida, close to Walt Disney World.

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U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby ruled that the government presented sufficient evidence to show that Mosby submitted the gift letter when she was in Maryland.

“The court must deny the defendant’s motion as to venue issue,” said Griggsby, who added that she would later issue a written opinion.

Mosby was previously found guilty of two counts of perjury in 2023 after a jury concluded that she lied to withdraw $90,000 from a retirement account under a provision in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act. She used that money to buy the home and condo.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 23.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Maggie Grace, one of Mosby’s attorneys, argued that the government had failed to prove that her client submitted the gift letter in Maryland.

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Grace noted that people can easily drive from Maryland to Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. She questioned the reliability of credit and debit card records.

“It’s their burden to prove that she was in Maryland,” Grace said. “Speculation is not enough to form a basis for venue.”

Meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Zelinsky called the motion “breathtaking in its scope” and “unsupported by case law.”

“The defendant in this case was the Baltimore state’s attorney,” Zelinsky said. “She lived in Baltimore City.”

Zelinsky said credit and debit card records show that there was an “unbroken string of transactions” in the state until she traveled to attend closing for the condo in Florida. The jury, he said, also found beyond a reasonable doubt that the venue was proper in Maryland.

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Later, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Delaney asked Griggsby to order Mosby to surrender her passport.

Delaney said that there’s now a “significant difference in circumstances” and stated that Mosby should not be treated different than anyone else.

“If she wants to get away with her family, she can do so in the continental United States,” he said.

But Federal Public Defender James Wyda, one of Mosby’s attorneys, said his client has been free on personal recognizance with no issues and should be allowed to travel.

“It’s unfathomable to me that Miss Mosby would abscond and abandon her family and her community,” Wyda said.

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Griggsby, though, directed Mosby to surrender her passport by Tuesday.

Supporters hold up signs on Friday outside U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, where a judge refused to throw out the mortgage fraud case against former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. (Kirk McKoy/The Baltimore Banner)

Mosby left the courthouse with dozens of supporters who filled the courtroom and an overflow room. She climbed into a waiting Chevrolet Suburban as they chanted, “Hands off Marilyn Mosby!” Many took a bus to attend the court proceedings.

People held up signs that read, “Millions in tax payer funds spent pearing into her personal records to bring meritless charges because her office was totally free of corruption” and, “Do you want the FBI financial experts spending millions to look into your personal mortgage and financial records.” Some compared her to Harriet Tubman and Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress.

Before the SUV drove off, Mosby poked her head outside the front passenger window. “Thank you,” she said twice to her supporters.

Dylan Segelbaum

dylan.segelbaum@thebaltimorebanner.com

Dylan Segelbaum

Dylan Segelbaum is the courts reporter at The Baltimore Banner.

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