Posted on 07/11/25
| News Source: FOX45
In a split decision Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit vacated former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s federal mortgage fraud conviction but upheld her perjury convictions.
The 2-1 decision ruled that the District Court of Maryland's venue instruction was erroneous, and found that the jury could've determined that the government didn't meet its burden to establish venue in that district, and that the error was not harmless.
However, the U.S. District Court said the District of Maryland's decision to allow the government to introduce evidence as to how Mosby used funds she withdrew from her retirement accounts was not in error, as the evidence was ruled supportive to where Mosby had suffered "adverse financial consequences."
In November 2023, Mosby was convicted on two counts of federal perjury charges following a jury trial, and a separate jury convicted her in a January 2024 trial on one count of federal mortgage fraud.
She was found guilty of perjury in late 2023 after she cited a CARES Act provision – federal COVID-era legislation – that allowed her to withdraw the funds penalty free because she claimed she suffered an adverse financial consequence due to the pandemic. However, the jury heard testimony from forensic accountants that Mosby made more money in 2020 than she did in 2019.
In January 2024, Mosby went to trial again for two federal mortgage fraud charges stemming from two Florida vacation homes she purchased; she used the funds from her retirement account as down payments on the properties. A jury found Mosby guilty of one of the mortgage fraud charges, pointing to a gift letter Mosby submitted to a lender indicating her then-husband, Nick Mosby, would give her $5,000 she needed to secure a favorable interest rate for the property.
However, Nick Mosby didn’t have the money and Marilyn was the one who actually wired the funds to her then-husband, who shuffled it around before sending it to the lender.
Mosby was sentenced in May 2024 to home detention for a year, followed by three years of supervised release.
On June 20, 2025, Mosby's home detention ended.
Friday's split decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals also reverses the forfeiture of a Florida vacation home.