Posted on 12/04/24
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 4, 2024 - Presiding over his final Board of Estimates meeting, with his two daughters by his side, outgoing Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby called on President Joe Biden to pardon his ex-wife, Marilyn Mosby.
In emotional final remarks, Nick brought up his two daughters to stand with him as he talked about his love for Baltimore and how serving as the leader of the City Council helped him fulfil a dream.
“You didn’t ask to be the children of Marilyn Mosby and Nick Mosby. You asked to be little children, to have the chance to grow up like everybody else,” Nick Mosby said.
The Mosby family has been in the spotlight for many years; Marilyn was the youngest top prosecutor in a major U.S. city when she was first elected as Baltimore City State’s Attorney and sworn into office in January 2015.
In 2020, the Mosby couple became the focus of a federal investigation; their taxes and charitable donations were at the center of the probe. In January 2022, Marilyn Mosby was indicted on four federal charges; two perjury and two mortgage fraud. Federal prosecutors, at the time, claimed she lied when she made two withdrawals from her city retirement account using a COVID-era provision claiming she suffered a financial hardship and therefore, didn’t pay a penalty for the early withdrawal. Mosby then used the money to purchase two vacation homes in Florida.
“Marilyn Mosby, my ex-wife, was selectively prosecuted, wrongfully prosecuted, politically prosecuted, and I call on my colleagues throughout the state, and call on anybody else throughout the state, to ask President Joe Biden for a pardon,” Nick Mosby said Wednesday.
Nick Mosby testified in his ex-wife’s second federal trial in early 2024 when she was facing two mortgage fraud convictions. On the state, Nick Mosby admitted to lying about his finances to his wife and admitted to lying to the public about a tax lien placed on the Mosby’s Baltimore home.
Ultimately, Marilyn Mosby was convicted of one count of mortgage fraud after a jury determined she submitted a false gift letter when purchasing a vacation home in Florida. The gift letter indicated Nick would give his then-wife $5,000 to help with the closing costs, but Nick didn’t have the money. Forensic accountants testified that Marilyn was the one who gave Nick the money, who then shuffled it around to various bank accounts, before wiring it back to Marilyn.
Marilyn Mosby was sentenced in May to one year of home detention. Since then, her legal team has argued several times, unsuccessfully, that she should be allowed to move freely, replacing the home detention with a curfew instead. Her legal team also is appealing her mortgage fraud, and two perjury convictions.
Nick Mosby has supported his now ex-wife throughout her legal saga; before the two divorced, he appeared with her at several court hearings in Baltimore before the case was moved to Greenbelt – at the request of Mosby and her team.
In March 2024, prior to Mosby’s sentencing, supporters launched an online petition requesting a presidential pardon. Supporters of the former state’s attorney in Baltimore City claim a laundry list of reasons why they believe Mosby should be pardoned, including alleging a targeted investigation, trial irregularities, and selective prosecution.
Most recently, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and political strategist Angela Rye renewed Mosby’s pardon efforts with a statement urging President Biden to pardon more people after he pardoned hi son, Hunter Biden.
“After learning about the pardon of Hunter Biden this evening, we want to remind President Biden that justice is still not served for so many in this country,” the statement from Crump and Rye read. "There are thousands of people who have been wrongfully convicted and sit in federal prisons today. While Hunter Biden was selectively prosecuted, he’s not the only one.”
"Marilyn Mosby is on house arrest right now with her law license hanging in the balance over purchasing property with her own money," the statement continued. "We welcome a conversation with President Biden to discuss ways to use his pardon power to free those 'others' who deserve justice also."
According to the Department of Justice, 259 pardon petitions were submitted to President Biden in 2022, and three were granted. In 2023, 380 pardon petitions were submitted and nine were granted.