Marilyn Mosby’s mortgage-fraud conviction has been formally dismissed after federal prosecutors abandoned a retrial on October 14, 2026. The decision follows the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2025 ruling that a venue instruction at trial was legally erroneous. Mosby can keep the Florida condominium tied to the charge, but her separate perjury convictions and Maryland law-license proceedings remain unresolved.
What happened on October 14, 2026
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Maryland filed a court document stating that it would not pursue a new trial on the mortgage-fraud charge. The court then formally dismissed that conviction. The decision ends the federal government’s effort to retry Mosby on the count involving her Long Boat Key, Florida, condominium.
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The dismissal also resolves the criminal forfeiture connected to that mortgage count. Reporting the same day said Mosby celebrated the result while continuing to contest the professional consequences of her criminal case, including the status of her Maryland law license.
Why the Fourth Circuit vacated the conviction
The problem was the venue instruction
In July 2025, the Fourth Circuit vacated Mosby’s mortgage-fraud conviction and the related forfeiture order. The appellate majority held that the trial judge incorrectly instructed jurors about venue, meaning the place where the federal offense had to be proved to have occurred.
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The instruction allowed the jury to find venue from “any act in furtherance of the crime.” The appellate court said that wording could let jurors rely on preparatory conduct rather than the essential conduct elements of the offense. Because the jury might have concluded that prosecutors failed to prove the crime occurred in Maryland, the court found the error was not harmless.
“For these reasons, we vacate Appellant’s conviction for mortgage fraud and remand for further proceedings.”
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The ruling was not a finding that every allegation was false
The appellate decision addressed the legal error in the venue instruction. It did not hold that every underlying factual allegation had been disproved. Prosecutors still had the option of seeking a retrial, but they ultimately chose not to do so.
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The $428,400 condominium loan
The Justice Department said a 2024 jury convicted Mosby on one count of making a false mortgage application connected to a condominium in Long Boat Key, Florida. The application sought a $428,400 loan. Prosecutors alleged that Mosby falsely represented that she had received a $5,000 gift from her husband to help fund the purchase.
According to the government’s account, Mosby first transferred $5,000 to her husband, who then transferred the money back to her. Prosecutors said the gift-letter statement was intended to help her qualify for a lower mortgage interest rate.
Dates in the transaction
Mosby and her husband signed the gift letter in February 2021, and she closed on the condominium on February 19, 2021. The jury acquitted her on a separate mortgage count involving a home in Kissimmee, Florida.
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The forfeiture order
The trial judge ordered forfeiture of 90% of Mosby’s interest in the Long Boat Key condominium, an interest estimated at approximately $773,200. The Fourth Circuit vacated that order along with the conviction. With prosecutors abandoning a retrial, the forfeiture tied to the mortgage count no longer stands.
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Does Mosby get to keep the Florida condominium?
Yes. The Long Boat Key property was at the center of the mortgage count, and the forfeiture order based on that conviction was vacated. Because federal prosecutors will not retry the charge, the criminal case no longer provides a basis for taking the property under that count. The dismissal does not change the fact that the jury acquitted Mosby on the separate Kissimmee mortgage charge.
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Which convictions remain?
Not all of Mosby’s convictions were overturned. The Fourth Circuit affirmed two perjury convictions arising from withdrawals from Baltimore’s Deferred Compensation Plan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those convictions are separate from the mortgage-fraud count and were not dismissed by the October 2026 action.
The result is therefore mixed: the mortgage conviction and its property forfeiture were vacated and then dismissed, while the perjury convictions remain in place.
What happens to Mosby’s law license?
The mortgage-count dismissal does not end the professional-discipline matter. Same-day reporting said Mosby continues to challenge the consequences of her criminal case for her Maryland law license. The license proceedings are separate from the federal retrial decision, so the October 14 dismissal does not by itself determine whether she may continue practicing law.
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Key dates in the case
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 2021 | Mosby and her husband signed the $5,000 gift letter for the Long Boat Key purchase. |
| February 19, 2021 | Mosby closed on the Florida condominium. |
| 2024 | A jury convicted Mosby on one mortgage-fraud count, acquitted her on the separate Kissimmee mortgage count, and convicted her on two perjury counts. |
| July 2025 | The Fourth Circuit vacated the mortgage conviction and the approximately $773,200 forfeiture order, while affirming the perjury convictions. |
| October 14, 2026 | Federal prosecutors abandoned a retrial, and the mortgage-fraud conviction was formally dismissed. |
What the dismissal means in practical terms
- No federal retrial on the mortgage count: Prosecutors have ended the case rather than try the charge again.
- No forfeiture under that count: The order affecting 90% of the condominium interest was vacated with the conviction.
- The perjury convictions remain: The appellate court upheld those separate convictions.
- The law-license dispute continues: Professional discipline is a separate proceeding and remains unresolved.
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