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Crime & Justiceby Mark Reutter9:10 pmNov 30, 20210

Former city prosecutor charged with using his office to illegally obtain information, then stalk ex-girlfriends

The 88-count indictment against Adam Chaudry also includes allegations of misconduct in office and attempted extortion. His attorney calls the charges “wholly without basis.”

Above: Adam Chaudry was photographed with Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby at a 2016 community event (@BaltimoreSAO)

A former prosecutor in Marilyn Mosby’s office has been charged with using his law enforcement powers to spy, harass, stalk, extort money and falsely obtain records from six victims, including two ex-girlfriends.

The 88-count indictment, filed today in Baltimore Circuit Court by State Prosecutor Charlton Howard, alleges that Adam Lane Chaudry used his position as an assistant state’s attorney and his command of a city grand jury to illegally subpoena telephone and other records from his former romantic partners and their friends.

He is also accused of trying to coerce $10,000 from the ex-boyfriend of another woman, illegally subpoenaing the jail calls made by a relative of an ex-girlfriend and directing an SAO investigator to do “information workups” on some of the victims.

Chaudry’s alleged abuse of his position started in 2018 and lasted through April 2021, with one victim’s phone records secretly subpoenaed 33 times.

Regarding the extortion charge, Chaudry wrote to a female friend in November 2018 that “I’ll have my investigators run and check on [the ex-boyfriend] to see where he is staying. I can likely sending [sic] Target letter to both him and [a sports agent] indicating the State is investigating the matter in a criminal capacity.”

A month later, Chaudry sent to the ex-boyfriend a letter on SAO stationery saying that the office had opened a criminal investigation into his failure to remit payment to the acquaintance.

A victim was told on SAO stationery that he was under criminal investigation when no such investigation existed.

The letter concludes, “Should both parties reach an agreement for an alternative resolution for which the amount outstanding $10,000.00 U.S. currency is recovered in full, the State will note the same as satisfactorily closed.”

The letter was addressed as coming from State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby and signed by Chaudry even though the person was never under investigation.

“Rife with Errors”

“Our justice system relies on the integrity of law enforcement officials, especially prosecutors,” Howard stated this evening. “Our office will work to ensure public officials who abuse positions of trust and authority are investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.”

In a press release, Chaudry’s attorneys, Patrick R. Seidel and Steven Silverman, called the indictment “rife with legal and factual errors of which the State Prosecutor is personally aware.”

Seidel, who once worked alongside Chaudry in the homicide division and quit the SAO earlier this year to join Silverman’s law practice, noted that the indictment “does not involve any allegation of physical injury, nor is there any pecuniary gain.”

He likened the 88 separate counts to “throwing everything against the wall and hoping something sticks,” and said Howard’s office does not have the jurisdiction to charge Chaudry because an assistant state’s attorney is not considered a public official under the law.

The Brew broke the story of the Chaudry investigation last May after the State Prosecutor executed a search warrant at the SAO office in downtown Baltimore.

At the time, there was widespread speculation that the warrant was tied to the federal criminal tax investigation of Mosby and her husband, City Council President Nick Mosby.

The Brew noted that, instead, it centered on Chaudry’s alleged abuse of his prosecutorial powers and noted that Mosby’s office was cooperating with the State Prosecutor.

Employee in Marilyn Mosby’s office is under investigation (5/11/21)

Tonight, SAO communications director, Zy Richardson, said Mosby terminated Chaudry on June 18, 2021 “soon after we concluded an internal investigation of the State Prosecutor’s allegations.”

Since then, Richardson said, Chaudry’s criminal cases have been “reevaluated on the merits of each case, where to date we’ve found no reason to question the legitimacy of his cases. We are unable to comment further about this open and pending matter.”

Chaudry was regarded as an effective prosecutor with a number of successful homicide prosecutions under his belt.

Seidel said Chaudry was not terminated and tonight released a June 18, 2021 letter that Chaudry wrote to Mosby giving notice of his resignation.

A 13-year office veteran, Chaudry was hired by former State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy and was promoted by Mosby to the homicide division in September 2015.

He was regarded as a hard-working prosecutor, who effectively handled a number of high-profile homicide cases, according to three ex-colleagues, who asked for anonymity given the sensitive nature of the case.

In his resignation letter to Mosby last June, Chaudry wrote that “the SAO has been a home for me” and added:

“It is with a heavy heart that I tender this letter, but I truly believe that my departure at this stage is necessary to not provide a distraction from the admirable work done selflessly by every member of the team and to protect the integrity that the SAO projects in preserving the principles of an institution grounded in safeguarding the citizens of the city I love so dearly.”

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