News writer
Nick Mosby may have lost his bid for re-election as Baltimore City Council president, but luck seems to be on his side after all. Just three months after leaving office, he's landed a new gig — one that involves overseeing billions in lottery and gaming revenue for Maryland.
Despite a past riddled with financial missteps and ethics violations, the state Senate has rolled the dice on Mosby. They recently approved him for a five-year term on the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission.
Senate approval for State Lottery Commission
Nick Mosby left office three months ago after a troubled time serving as the president of the Baltimore City Council. Now, he is back in public life after the Maryland Senate approved him in a 34-11 vote to be a member of the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission.
The commission oversees $6 billion in annual lottery sales, casino earnings, and sports wagering for the state of Maryland. Mosby was approved for a five-year term after recently being appointed by Governor Wes Moore. He will be paid $18,000 a year and is required to attend the commission's monthly oversight meetings.
A troubled history
The nomination of Mosby came with mixed reviews, as he has a documented history of tax liens, false statements, delinquent water bills, campaign finance mismanagement, and an ethics code violation.
Mosby served as a state legislator between 2017 and 2020. During that time, he established an LLC where he spent thousands of dollars buying expensive clothes even though he had no known source of income, federal prosecutors said. While serving as a state legislator, he also had a car repossessed, and his wages were garnished for delinquent student loans.
He served as the Baltimore City Council president between 2020 and 2024 but lost his re-election bid in the May 2024 primary. During his time on the City Council, he battled a federal investigation into the finances of he and his wife. That investigation eventually led to the conviction of his now ex-wife, Marilyn Mosby, on perjury and mortgage fraud charges.
Publicly lying and false campaign filings
During the trial of his ex-wife, Mosby admitted to publicly lying that he paid off a $45,000 IRS tax lien because he didn't want to upset his wife with the truth. Prosecutors also stated Mosby lied about claiming $36,000 in charitable contributions on his 2014 and 2015 taxes.
However, his ex-wife's lawyers argued that bringing that information up at trial was unfair because they weren't charged with tax evasion. The judge agreed.
In addition to the trial, Mosby had multiple campaign reports by Friends of Nick Mosby that were deceptive. This includes not reporting $25,000 in donor money to the State Elections Board, listing incorrect addresses for dozens of campaign contributions, falsely reporting a contribution from his wife's deceased grandfather, and misrepresenting donations from Baltimore Gas & Electric.
Still passes the vote
As part of the nomination process, the Maryland Senate held a hearing with Mosby and questioned him on his background and how these tax issues and other matters didn't disqualify him from this position of fiduciary management.
Mosby said, “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,” the Baltimore Brew reported.
Mosby told the Senate that these things were in his past, more than a decade ago. However, the Baltimore Brew daily journal reported that he currently has an outstanding water bill with the city of over $1,000.
Despite all of that, the senators voted along party lines — with 34 Democrats voting in favor and 10 Republicans and one Democrat voting against.
Mosby will now serve on the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission, which regulates all of the state's gaming programs. This includes traditional Maryland Lottery, video lottery terminals, casino table games, instant ticket lottery machines, electronic gaming devices, and instant bingo machines.
Enjoy playing the Maryland Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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