Posted on 02/06/24
| News Source: WBAL TV
Baltimore, MD - Feb. 6, 2024 - Jurors in Marilyn Mosby's federal mortgage fraud trial returned a split verdict Tuesday afternoon.
Mosby, 44, was indicted in January 2022 on federal perjury and mortgage fraud charges, which went to trial separately. Prosecutors in the mortgage fraud trial said Mosby knowingly told seven different lies across the two sets of mortgage applications to convince lenders to give her loans and to lock in lower interest rates during the purchase of two Florida vacation homes.
The government claimed Mosby knew exactly what she was doing while the defense argued she did what trusted advisers told her to do.
The prosecution called six witnesses across three days. The defense called eight witnesses over five days, including Mosby's ex-husband, Nick Mosby, who testified for the defense for two days, often contradicting prior evidence and testimony -- including his own.
On Monday, the jury heard hours of closing arguments. In its closing argument, the government told jurors they have all the evidence and testimony they need -- including from the defendant herself -- to return guilty verdicts.
Marilyn Mosby began to testify on Wednesday, answering questions from her attorney, saying she was a novice when it came to real estate. She also told the jurors she has a perjury conviction from November 2023 that she intends to appeal. She said she was testifying because she regrets not testifying in her perjury trial, and she wants this jury to hear the truth.
In its closing argument on Monday, the defense argued Marilyn Mosby is not guilty and urged the jury to look at the big picture, blaming her trusted advisors -- including her then-husband, her realtor and her mortgage broker -- for filling out the legal documents incorrectly.
In the perjury case, Marilyn Mosby faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each of the two federal counts. Sentencing for that case will take place after the mortgage fraud trial concludes.