EXCLUSIVE — It has been two years since Baltimore County State’s Attorney Ivan Bates ousted his progressive predecessor, Marilyn Mosby, a high-profile prosecutor who aligned herself with the criminal justice reform movement that had swept across the country.

His no-nonsense approach to crime and dogged determination to hold all lawbreakers accountable created a seismic shift in how crime and punishment would be tackled in Maryland’s largest city.

Mosby, like other progressive prosecutors, bent laws to tilt the scales of justice in favor of criminals in the name of reform. The disastrous results were pretty predictable. Her policies failed, crime increased, and public safety decreased.

Mosby’s original campaign platform had been to ignore entire categories of crime and reduce sentences for some violent offenders. Under her watch, homicides exceeded 300 per year, every year, making Charm City one of the nation’s most dangerous places to be.

Bates remembers it well. He was a defense attorney at the time.

Land of lawlessness

“The message was loud and clear to the people I was representing: I can do whatever I want to do,” he told the Washington Examiner in a wide-ranging interview. “At one point, my partner and I won 25 straight jury trials against the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. It was almost chaos in terms of what was going on. For our city, it wasn’t the best time period. For a defense attorney, it made you believe that you were a lot better than you were. I mean, I was pretty good, but I wasn’t that great.”

Bates had a real crisis of conscience after his daughter was born. He wanted to stay in Baltimore but could not risk her safety.

He said he “could continue to complain” or do something about it.

He chose the latter and ran for office.

Bates, who describes himself as “smart on crime,” lost the Democratic primary to Mosby in 2018 but, undeterred, ran against her again four years later and won.

“Voters are choosing prosecutors who understand that public safety requires real accountability,” Brian Townsend, a retired supervisory special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, told the Washington Examiner. “These communities have lived through the real-world consequences of progressive policies, from brazen retail theft to unchecked quality-of-life crimes to rising violent crime rates — and they are demanding change.”

Bates campaigned on cracking down on gun violence and restarting prosecutions for nonviolent crimes such as drug possession, prostitution, and trespassing. He promised to improve technology in the state’s attorney’s office, hire and train more staff, and work closely with federal authorities.

Mandatory sentencing for illegal guns

He also drew a clear line in the sand when it came to illegal guns. If a person was caught carrying, Bates made it known he was going to throw the book at them.

“In Maryland, if you are found with a gun and if you have a prior felony, you are a felon in possession, and there is a minimum mandatory five years without the possibility of parole, which means that individual went to jail,” Bates said. “Under the previous state’s attorney, very seldom did that count get called. When we came in, I told everybody to bring a toothbrush because our message to the individuals is that if you were going to carry a gun, then you were going to go to jail.”

During his first two years on the job, the state’s attorney’s office sent 1,723 people to prison for five years without the possibility of parole for having illegal guns. His office also secured 271 homicide convictions during that time. Combined with other violent crimes, Bates’s team took 2,129 violent offenders off the streets during his first two years. He says he is just getting started.

Bates made headlines during the 2023 legislative session for endorsing anticrime legislation introduced by the Maryland Republican Party, including bills that stiffened penalties for gun theft and repeat violent offenses. A year later, he backed legislation that would extend probationary periods for gun crimes committed by juveniles and limit the Child Interrogation Protection Act.

While some people had problems with him aligning himself with the GOP, he said he was not interested in whether sponsors of criminal justice bills had a “D” or an “R” next to their name.

“I can’t really get caught up if somebody is Republican or Democrat because a bullet doesn’t discriminate against your age, your race, your political party, anything,” Bates said. “I feel like my job is to do what’s in the best interest protecting the residents of Baltimore City. The Republicans have some very good ideas and the Democrats have some very good ideas, and we need to take the best ideas and do what’s best for the people.”

Under Mosby, homicides peaked at 342 in 2019, and they never dropped below 300 from 2015 to 2023, her time in office. In 2023, there were 252, and the number dropped to 202 in 2024, according to the city’s crime portal. So far this year, there have been 13 homicides, down 18.7% from the same time last year.

Low GPA and the Army

Bates told the Washington Examiner that everything in his past, from his 1.9 GPA in high school to his time in the Army and his experience as a defense attorney, has helped train him for his role.

Bates was assigned to the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, where he worked as a mechanic. He said a conversation with a sergeant major who had almost 30 years under his belt and had fought in Vietnam opened his eyes to the importance of education. Bates said he joked to the sergeant major that the lieutenant did not know how to read a map.

“I asked, ‘Why aren’t you in charge?’ and he said he wasn’t a lieutenant because he didn’t go to college,” Bates said. “I realized from that moment on how important school was.”

After leaving the military, Bates enrolled at Howard University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He went to William & Mary Law School, where he earned his law degree in 1995. He passed the bar exam on his first try.

Freddie Gray

One of Bates’s career-defining moments came when he defended Alicia White, one of six police officers involved in the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who was arrested by Baltimore police officers over his legal possession of a knife.

Gray sustained severe injuries while in police custody and died a week later. His death was ruled a homicide. An official autopsy report said he suffered a single “high-energy injury” to his neck and spine. His death sparked citywide protests which turned into riots. In the end, more than 20 police officers were injured, 250 people were arrested, 300 businesses were damaged, 27 drug stores were looted, and 150 vehicle fires were started.

While Mosby filed charges against the six police officers involved in the Gray case, she was unable to secure a single conviction.

Bates said the case not only tested his resolve but also reminded him why he became a lawyer.

“There are moments in your life that define who you are going to be as a person,” Bates said. “I received no greater pushback than representing Sgt. Alicia White in the Freddie Gray case. The narrative that Ms. Mosby had given was far from the truth in terms, especially, of Alicia White. And people painted it with a broad brush and people convicted Sgt. White of things without even knowing the facts. I was able to really stand up against a lot of ridicule because I was defending Sgt. White. But that experience, I think, really made me a lot stronger because when you have everybody against you, you are able to fight through it. It makes you stronger. And when you are in office, you have to do the right thing and it may not always be the popular thing.”

Mosby’s downfall

Mosby went on to become entangled in court cases of her own.

In early 2022, she was indicted by federal prosecutors on two perjury charges.

In May 2024, she was convicted of lying about her personal finances to access retirement funds and buy a vacation home in Florida but was spared any jail time.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Griggsby sentenced Mosby to three years of supervised release and 12 months of house arrest. In November 2023, she pleaded guilty to perjury.

Mosby was also found guilty on a federal charge of making a false mortgage application.

When asked about his future political aspirations, Bates did not rule anything out, only to say he would be running for a second term in two years.