Prince George's Developer Charged With Bribery Takes Plea

A developer scheduled to go to trial yesterday on charges of bribing a Baltimore City Council member instead pleaded guilty to a lesser violation and agreed to cooperate with the Maryland state prosecutor's case against the city's mayor, Sheila Dixon.

Ronald H. Lipscomb of Prince George's County acknowledged violating campaign finance laws, and prosecutors dropped charges that he paid for a poll for council member Helen L. Holton in exchange for her help in securing tax credits for an Inner Harbor East project that he partially owns.

State Prosecutor Robert A. Rohrbaugh said that as part of the plea agreement, Lipscomb will cooperate in the continuing City Hall corruption investigation, including any grand jury proceedings.

Rohrbaugh would not discuss how Lipscomb's plea will affect the case against Dixon, who is scheduled to go to trial in September. In January, a city grand jury charged her with 12 theft and perjury charges related to gifts she received from Lipscomb, although seven perjury offenses were dismissed last month.

In dropping the bribery charges against Lipscomb, prosecutors revealed in Baltimore Circuit Court that he was not the only developer to fund the $12,500 poll for Holton. John Paterakis, the head of H&S bakery and the developer who "owns or controls" almost all of the Inner Harbor East complex, according to the court papers, contributed $6,000, or almost half of the pollster's fee.

State laws prohibit individuals from contributing more than $4,000 per candidate per election cycle. It is the first time Paterakis's name has been raised in the corruption case. Neither Paterakis nor his lawyer, Charles P. Scheeler, returned calls for comment.

Dixon's attorneys played down the importance of Lipscomb's plea. "If he's ever called as a witness and he testifies truthfully, he is of no concern," Arnold M. Weiner said.