On Tuesday, the NAACP sent a letter to President Biden demanding he pardon Marilyn Mosby, a former Baltimore State’s Attorney who was found guilty in February of mortgage fraud.
The civil rights organization alleged that Mosby was a victim of a politically motivated and malicious prosecution by the Trump administration, and therefore should be pardoned, the Baltimore Banner reports.
The group claims that Mosby, an anti-police BLM supporter, was unjustly targeted by former US Attorney General William Barr after she vowed to prosecute federal agents if they were to come to Baltimore at the direction of President Trump, an effort by the former administration to curb the violent BLM riots of 2020.
Additionally, the NAACP slammed the Biden administration and accused the president of ignoring the “clear political motive” behind Mosby’s prosecution.
In February, Mosby was found guilty on a federal charge of fabricating a mortgage application to obtain a reduced interest rate. The conviction came after a November 2023 conviction on two charges of perjury connected to the removal of money from the Deferred Compensation Plan of the City of Baltimore.
Mosby, who faces up to 40 years in prison, used claims of Covid hardship to pull funds from her retirement and buy a condo in Florida’s Gulf Coast. She claimed that the $5,000 she received for the down payment on the property came from her ex-husband.
In the letter sent to Biden, the NAACP argued, “We are deeply concerned that the last administration abused their power to advance a meritless indictment against Ms. Mosby and worse, the current administration’s US Department of Justice ignored a clear political motive of the malicious prosecution against Ms. Mosby."
According to the NAACP, federal officials, including former President Trump, were incensed by Mosby's dedication to racial justice and accountability.
During an address to law enforcement in February 2020, AG Barr disparaged prosecutors, including Mosby, per the outlet.
“We expect that political persecutions and malicious prosecutions pursued during the Trump Administration would not continue in the Biden Administration,” the letter stated. “Ms. Mosby’s case is not the only one — it is the latest and one of the most egregious cases. This matter should be corrected because it is a miscarriage of justice and an example of the last administration’s misuse of authority.”
The NAACP's president and CEO, Derrick Johnson, stated that Mosby's conviction serves as an illustration of how the legal system targets Black Americans.
According to the civil rights group, Mosby was the only person charged out of 739 people who committed similar offenses.
“We’ve watched, decade after decade, as Black Americans have faced wrongful prosecution at the hands of those who seek to promote injustice,” Johnson said in a statement.
“The only thing Marilyn Mosby is guilty of is the desire to provide her family with a better life. The sad reality is, as Black women take their rightful places in positions of power, dark forces seek to tear down both their progress, and that of our community. The NAACP refuses to stand idly by as injustice takes the wheel, driving us down a path of further disparity. We are proud to stand alongside our partners in calling on President Biden and the Department of Justice to reemphasize their commitment to racial equity by pardoning Attorney Mosby. Enough is enough. It’s time to stand with Black women,” he said.
