Three months after leaving office following a tumultuous tenure as Baltimore City Council president, Nick J. Mosby has re-entered public life as a member of a powerful state board that oversees $6 billion in annual lottery sales, casino earnings and sports wagering.

Mosby’s five-year term on the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission was approved Friday night by the Maryland Senate on a 34-11 party-line vote.

He will be paid $18,000 a year (or $90,000 over the life of his term) and attend the commission’s monthly oversight meetings.

Ten Republicans voted against what was officially described on the floor as “nominee 22” (Mosby), while 34 Democrats, including the party leadership, voted in favor of his appointment.

One of Governor Wes Moore’s “green bag” nominations to the Senate, his appointment comes despite a documented history of tax liens, false statements, delinquent water bills, campaign finance mismanagement and an ethics code violation.

As a state legislator between 2017 and 2020, Mosby established an LLC that federal prosecutors said spent thousands of dollars buying expensive clothes despite his having no known source of income. Over the same period, his car was repossessed and his wages garnished for delinquent student loans.

As City Council president between 2020 and 2024, Mosby battled a federal investigation of his and his then-wife’s finances, which eventually resulted in the conviction of Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s former state’s attorney, on perjury and mortgage fraud charges.

At his ex-wife’s trial, Mosby admitted to publicly lying that he paid off a $45,000 IRS tax lien because the truth would upset his wife.

During the trial, prosecutors said Mosby also lied when he claimed $36,000 in charitable donations on his 2014 and 2015 taxes.

Prosecutors sought to question Mosby about these deductions. But the Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sided with Marilyn Mosby’s lawyer, who argued that raising the couple’s tax “impropriety” to the jury was unfair because they were not charged for tax evasion by prosecutors or the IRS.

False Campaign Filings

Multiple campaign reports by Friends of Nick Mosby were equally deceptive.

He failed to report $25,000 in donor money to the State Elections Board, misrepresented donations from Baltimore Gas & Electric, listed incorrect addresses for dozens of campaign contributors and falsely reported a contribution from his wife’s deceased grandfather.

As City Council president, he helped set in motion a near riot at City Hall and was ruled in violation of Baltimore’s ethics law by Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill.

In each case, Mosby avoided serious sanctions. He avoided $2,800 in fines by the State Elections Board by returning some donations and agreeing to hire a D.C. accounting expert as treasurer of his campaign committee.

In March 2023, he amended his city ethics statement, disclosing a legal defense fund he had earlier disavowed despite being named a beneficiary, following months of wrangling with the Baltimore Board of Ethics.

Senate Testimony

“There’s nothing that I’ve done in the past” that amounts to “fraud, waste, abuse or corruption in my personal life or as a member of this body or the City Council,” he told the Senate Executive Nominations Committee last Monday.

He was responding to a question by Senator Justin D. Ready (R, Carroll-Frederick): “Why shouldn’t your background, from tax issues to other [matters], disqualify you from this position of fiduciary management?”

“Obviously, the media would like to talk about stuff that took place in my mid-30s, more than a decade ago,” Mosby, now 46, continued.

“I think that absolutely has nothing to do about my being right and ready to serve in this position that Governor Wes Moore has ultimately seen fit for me to do so, and I hope this body provides me the opportunity as well.”

“Stuff that took place in my mid-30s . . . has nothing to do about my being right and ready to serve in this position”  – Nick Mosby.

At the Senate hearing, Senator Antonio Hayes (D, 40th) praised Mosby as “a dedicated public servant with a strong record of leadership, experience and community engagement.”

Senate President Ferguson (D, 46th) applauded the nominee’s willingness to “step back into service,” saying:

“We have worked together for 15 years on a number of different issues from horse racing to complicated city issues, and in every situation I have seen your dedication to try to get to the right answer.”

Delinquent Water Bill

Though Mosby pledged to the Senate committee that these “blips of issues,” as he called them, were in his past, The Brew has found that he currently has an outstanding water bill at the Reservoir Hill rowhouse he shares with his daughters.

Twice before while City Council president, Mosby failed to pay his water bills.

Each time, he paid only after The Brew published data on his delinquency. Last April, for example, he owed $1,031, having not paid his water bill for the prior 15 months.

• Nick and Marilyn Mosby haven’t paid their water bill in a year (2/28/22)

• Baltimore’s second highest elected official isn’t paying his water bill – again (4/9/24)

Water bills are considered delinquent when an account has an unpaid balance of $250 or more and is two payment periods in arrears.

As of today, Mosby is $1,047.93 in arrears, which have accumulated in roughly $100 monthly increments over the past year.

Code of Conduct

In a statement on Instagram before the Senate vote, Mosby described his life as “dedicated to serving the people of Maryland,” saying that he has promoted minority-owned businesses, expanded opportunities for workforce training and championed efforts to retain the Preakness in Baltimore.

“These experiences have equipped me for this new responsibility. I am thankful for confidence placed in me and eager to embrace this opportunity to serve all of Maryland once again!”

Only one Democrat, Mary-Dulany James of Harford County, voted against Mosby’s nomination. She did not give her reasons on the Senate floor and has not responded to an invitation by The Brew to comment.

As one of the 10 Republicans who voted against Mosby, Ready said his main concern is giving Mosby power over an agency responsible for handling so much money and regulating both casinos and online sports betting.

“This is a fiduciary position. I might feel differently if this was a board that was not so important. But it’s not. And it’s not like Mr. Mosby’s problems happened long ago. We’ve just been through two trials involving all this stuff.”

“It’s not like Mr. Mosby’s problems happened long ago. We’ve just been through two trials involving all this stuff”  – Senator Justin Ready.

The State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission is legally responsible for regulating all of the state’s gaming programs, which include the traditional lottery, video lottery terminals, casino table games, instant ticket lottery machines, electronic gaming devices and instant bingo machines.

Mosby is required to sign a “code of conduct” that, among other things, calls on a commissioner to “avoid situations where private interest in outside business activities and opportunity for financial or personal gain could influence the member or employee to give favored treatment to any individual or entity.”

He also must pledge, as one of seven commissioners, “not to directly or indirectly accept any gift, gratuity, service, compensation, travel, lodging, complimentary service or any thing of value” from a licensee, applicant, employee, casino lobbyist or other representative.