Former top Baltimore prosecutor applies for presidential pardon

FILE - Then-Maryland State Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby speaks during a news conference on Oct. 11, 2022, in Baltimore. Mosby has applied for a presidential pardon ahead of sentencing on her recent perjury and mortgage fraud convictions, according to The Baltimore Sun. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore’s former top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby has applied for a presidential pardon ahead of sentencing on her recent perjury and mortgage fraud convictions, according to The Baltimore Sun.

In a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday, the Congressional Black Caucus expressed support for her cause, repeating claims made by Mosby and her attorneys that the prosecution was politically motivated, The Sun reported.

Mosby is set to be sentenced next week. She has asked for probation while prosecutors are seeking 20 months in prison.

“As a nation that leads by example, our justice system must not be weaponized to prevent progress toward a more perfect union,” wrote Rep. Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat who chairs the caucus.

The letter says Mosby submitted her pardon application on Wednesday. She recently appeared on MSNBC to argue her case.

Mosby served two terms as state’s attorney for Baltimore, earning a national profile for her progressive policies and several high-profile decisions. She brought charges against the police officers involved in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, which ignited widespread protests against police brutality. None were convicted.

The federal criminal charges stemmed from allegations that Mosby claimed a pandemic-related hardship to make early withdrawals from her retirement account, then used that money for down payments on Florida properties. Prosecutors alleged she repeatedly lied on the mortgage applications.

Mosby lost re-election in 2022 after being indicted by a federal grand jury.

“While pardon applications generally express remorse and regret, what happens when justice was not served and in fact, denied?” Mosby wrote in her pardon application, according to The Sun. “No such remorse and regret is appropriate in this case.”