Marilyn Mosby, former Baltimore top prosecutor, seeks pardon

On the day of her election she was the youngest chief

prosecutor

of any major American city, but in recent months Marilyn Mosby has found herself on the other side of the courtroom as a defendant after being found guilty in two separate federal trials. in which he is now. faces up to 40 years in prison as the clock ticks down to her sentencing on Thursday, she is still fighting for her freedom ABC's Jana Norman spoke with Mosby and her lawyer Justice is always worth the price paid for its pursuit always always Marilyn Mosby once the best of Baltimore The

prosecutor

is awaiting sentencing on convictions that carry the possibility of decades in prison.

Mosby and her attorney Angela Ry describe it as political retaliation. The first thing he would say is that Marilyn is not the only one; she is the latter and they are remarkably egregious black female prosecutors. Progressive prosecutors in this country have been overwhelmingly attacked and then Donald Trump himself, who said when she was running for office that she should prosecute herself. Bill Bar, who was her attorney general, said there are cities like Baltimore and named others where she was. Specifically looking at him was by design from the beginning of Witch Hunt, although the investigation has been completed since President Biden took office, the investigation into Mosby began under President Donald Trump.

Mosby came to public prominence in 2015 with the case of Freddy Gray seen here being arrested. suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody that boy looked at the leg Bross in the middle of the riot Mosby moved to charge the six officers involved no one is above the law I was one of the first prosecutors in this country in attempt to apprehend police officers responsible for the death of a black man, that exposure ultimately led to reform not only in the state in Baltimore City and across the state, but nationally, the prosecution was unable to secure convictions for four of the officers and decided in 2016 to drop all charges.

The charges speak to me of his proudest moments in his role as State's Attorney. My office successfully convicted 33 police officers after Freddy Gray, those individuals who were violating the rights of citizens in the city of Baltimore. My office created Maryland's first statewide conviction integrity unit. where we did new investigations into claims of actual innocence, exonerated 13 innocent black men who collectively served 300 years in prison for crimes they did not commit, and so I am now in a position where I am faced with the same sobering reality than each one of them. individuals is incredibly discouraging in two separate trials.

Federal prosecutors sought to show that she falsified documents first to withdraw money from her retirement account early and then to buy two homes in Florida. The first trial in November of last year was for two counts of perjury related to those two withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2020, both made using a provision of the caregiving law, Congress's covid relief package, a withdrawal for $40,000 and the other for $50,000. By withdrawing my own money, the money she saved every two weeks, the prosecution accused her of lying about having financial difficulties on her application form, saying she intended to take advantage of the law intended to give favorable tax treatment to people struggling during The apogee. of the pandemic presented evidence at trial that showed that she earned about $9,000 more in 2020 than in 2019.

Are you saying that the actions that she was convicted of are not saying that you didn't do them or that that didn't happen? or am I misunderstanding, no, I think what we are saying is that it was not perjury to say that she experienced a D adverse financial consequence due to covid, she called to ask the administrator of the Baltimore Deferred Compensation Plan if she qualified twice correctly at level national. Yes, if you call and they tell you there is an adverse financial consequence that has not been legally defined and you obviously experience an adverse financial consequence.

I think that's what's so remarkable to me again. I keep using that word is how do they know how to do it? Marilyn was shocked by Co. She knows that she makes decent money as the state's attorney for Baltimore City. There are people she is responsible for. None of us knew. If people could remember what was happening during Covid, none of us knew what would come next. We were all experimenting. Adverse Financial Consequences: The jury found Mosby guilty on both counts. Mosby says she used money from her retirement account to close on two homes in Florida, an eight-bedroom home in CMI Florida, near Disney World, and a condo on Longbo Key, on the Gulf Coast. present evidence at trial accusing Mosby of falsely stating in a letter to the lender that she had received an outstanding $5,000 as a gift from her then-husband, Baltimore City Council Speaker Nick Mosby, they actually say she transferred that $5,000 to him and then he transferred them Again, the gift letter is the only allegation on which the jury convicted Moson in the mortgage fraud trial.

You know, what happens here is that they almost make it seem like transferring money between spouses is money laundering, which online critics say they are. Wait, this 40 years, you're not actually facing 40 years, yes that's possible, but it's highly unlikely that prosecutors will ask for 20 months, but you're saying even more than jail time that not only has personal effects on Maryland, but it sends a message, it sends an important message and I think the other thing we need to keep in mind is the type of crime, this goes right to the heart of it. Integrity, her honesty and her character.

The investigation was extremely extensive. They reviewed my taxes. They were reviewing my campaign contributions They were looking at my charitable donations They were knocking on neighbors' doors at 5: in the morning to question my hairdresser My children's dance teachers sent subpoenas to all the black churches a few months before my election all to create an environment where I would be isolated and villainized in the media and ultimately lost my election as a result, she says her 2022 impeachment has taken a toll on her personal life, including her marriage , she and her husband are now divorced and she says she worries about the impact her going to prison would have on her two teenage daughters they did this intentionally to break me psychologically spiritually professionally I lost my election financially I have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars trying to defend myself against these these ridiculous accusations, you know, I lost my marriage as a result of this, he's a public servant, he recently lost his election.

ABC News contacted the Justice Department for comment, but officials declined, although they said in court documents that Ms. Mosby was charged and convicted. because he chose to break the law repeatedly, not because of his politics or his policies, he is now seeking a

pardon

from President Biden out of fear that a conviction could lead to the bar removing his license to practice law, the

pardon

is due Once you delete the list, it will do so. between right and wrong, so what is life like for you on Friday and beyond Friday? And I say, based on my faith, I know that God will have the last word and, um, my hope is to get out of that courtroom and be able to start my life again rebuild my life with my daughters our thanks to Jana for bringing us that conversation