The federal judge presiding over the trial of former Baltimore City state attorney Marilyn Mosby denied her request to change venue Tuesday, saying high profile alone does not justify moving the case out of Baltimore.
Mosby, who left office earlier this month after being defeated in last year’s Democratic primary, faces two counts of perjury and mortgage fraud.
Prosecutors allege she falsely claimed “adverse financial consequences” related to the COVID-19 pandemic to withdraw $90,000 from her city retirement account and then used the money to make down payments on two Florida vacation homes. She is also charged with making false statements on mortgage applications for those homes.
Former Baltimore State Attorney Marilyn Mosby addresses the media outside her office one day after her indictment on federal perjury charges on Friday, January 14, 2022.
(Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP, File)
Mosby, who has pleaded not guilty to all four charges, will stand trial in Baltimore in March.
BALTIMORE ATTORNEY MARILYN MOSBY FACES A PERSONNEL CRISIS AMID CRIMINAL CHARGES
Federal District Court Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby also threatened to hold her lead attorney, A. Scott Bolden, in criminal contempt.
Bolden is accused of violating several court rules, including using profanity in an interview with reporters outside a Baltimore courthouse last September, disclosing confidential responses from prospective jurors in court documents, and failing to obtain a motion signed by a licensed attorney. in Maryland, according to the judge.
Defense attorney A. Scott Bolden, right, proclaims his client Marilyn Mosby, center, is innocent after leaving federal court with her and her husband, Nick Mosby, Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Baltimore. .
(Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Bolden, who has been given until January 31 to argue why he should not receive criminal penalties for contempt, apologized in court on Tuesday.
“It came from my heart and not from my head,” Bolden told the judge. “Clearly, it wasn’t my prime.”
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Bolden did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The judge also issued a gag order Tuesday to protect the integrity of the case ahead of trial on March 27.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
