Business Partner

Anne Arundel County Councilman Thomas W. Redmond Sr. owes $11,817 in delinquent county business property taxes on his Pasadena auto parts and towing business, county officials confirmed yesterday.The revelation of the county tax debt on Redmond's Inc., a family-run car salvage business at 8226 Baltimore-Annapolis Blvd. that grosses $1.4 million a year, is the most recent bad financial news for the 50-year-old Democrat.Last week, a business partner sued the first-term county councilman from Pasadena for allegedly failing to meet a repayment schedule on a $25,000 personal loan.

Adam D. Cockey Jr., a leader in the Baltimore-area real estate industry who had headed a Roland Park brokerage, died Oct. 30 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson of complications from a fall he suffered last month while on vacation in Phoenix, Ariz. He was 71 and had homes in Cockeysviile and St. Michaels. Born in Timonium, he was a member of the family that lent its name to Cockeysville. He attended Lutherville Elementary School. He was a 1959 graduate of Towson High School, where he was class president.

Ray Lewis' Atlanta-based defense attorney is a well-regarded trial lawyer known for defending his clients' reputations through the media and winning over juries with a likable, low-key manner. Edward T.M. Garland, 58, is also a business partner of home run king Hank Aaron, who referred the Ravens to Garland, according to sources familiar with the case. Fellow attorneys say it was a good recommendation. "Ed has tremendous trial skills. He has a wonderful way of communicating with both judges and jurors," said Wilmer "Buddy" Parker III, a defense attorney who, when serving as a federal prosecutor, faced off against Garland.

Joan C. Moag, a family matriarch who started a successful home wallpapering business on a whim, died of complications of cancer and Alzheimer's disease Monday at the Blakehurst Retirement Community. She was 78 and had lived in Tuscany-Canterbury. Born Joan Swanson in Chicago, she attended Aquinas High School and Loyola University of Chicago. She married John Andrew Moag, a neighbor who lived on the same block, in 1953. They spent their honeymoon in Paris and lived for a year in Heidelberg, Germany, where he was stationed with the Army.

Paul W. Nochumowitz, who has been one of Baltimore's biggest ground rent owners, has agreed to a $1.53 million settlement of a lawsuit that accused him of living lavishly from ground-rent income while claiming he was too poor to compensate former tenants harmed by exposure to lead paint. The settlement ends a contentious court fight between Nochumowitz and bankruptcy trustee George Liebmann, who accused the ground rent owner in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore of concealing his wealth to escape liability for lead paint injuries in rental housing he owned.

For Scott A. Caruthers, the cast was assembled. The wealth he had always wanted was in place. And by 1997, all that was left to gain from those around him was a loyalty of such intensity it would wrench apart friendships, lifestyles, marriages and religious beliefs. Such devotion would also mean abandoning homes and neighborhoods, and Caruthers led the way. He and companion Dashielle Lashra moved from the lowlands of Anne Arundel County to a two-story colonial amid the hills of Carroll County, in an isolated subdivision near Westminster.

Adam D. Cockey Jr., a leader in the Baltimore-area real estate industry who had headed a Roland Park brokerage, died Oct. 30 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson of complications from a fall he suffered last month while on vacation in Phoenix, Ariz. He was 71 and had homes in Cockeysviile and St. Michaels. Born in Timonium, he was a member of the family that lent its name to Cockeysville. He attended Lutherville Elementary School. He was a 1959 graduate of Towson High School, where he was class president.

A disbarred Towson lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to his role in a fraudulent property flipping scheme while a former business partner described his own flipping activities in another courtroom. Angus E. Finney, who was disbarred in 1997, pleaded guilty to one count in a 17-count indictment, admitting that his illegal activities cost lenders who financed the flips between $350,000 and $500,000. Finney was the ninth person convicted in recent months of defrauding mortgage lenders in property flips, where houses were bought and quickly resold at inflated values for a substantial profit, using falsified documents.

The owners of Rosecroft Raceway said yesterday that they have settled a debt with a former business partner - clearing the way for the sale of the harness track to the family of Baltimore trial lawyer Peter G. Angelos. The track, located just off the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County, has been eyed as a potential site for a lucrative slot machine gambling license if the General Assembly decides to allow slots in Maryland. Rosecroft's former business partner, Northwind Racing LLC, was holding a mortgage on the track, which has struggled financially in recent years.

CHICAGO -- A federal judge sentenced former Chicago Sun-Times publisher F. David Radler to 29 months in prison yesterday for taking millions of dollars in unauthorized payments from the tabloid's parent company. He must surrender to authorities Feb. 25. U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve accepted the plea agreement between Radler and federal prosecutors that gave him a reduced sentence in exchange for pleading guilty and cooperating with government's investigation of a fraud scheme at Hollinger International Inc. He was also fined $250,000.

Two years ago, Marilyn Wilhelm of Annapolis faced a difficult decision. Her husband had lost his job, and the family of six couldn't make it on the single income of a school day-care worker. Her sister suggested she look into a computer networking career, so she enrolled in the Cisco Networking Academy at Anne Arundel Community College. After two semesters of working part time and living off savings, Wilhelm became a Cisco-certified network associate. The entry-level certification ensures technicians know how to connect and manage the wiring and switches to link computers and provide Internet access.

GREENBELT - Jurors who are to decide the fate of former Prince George's County schools chief Andre J. Hornsby were virtually bombarded yesterday with facts, figures and entreaties by attorneys for the prosecution and the defense during closing arguments in the four-week-long corruption trial. Describing each of the 22 counts against Hornsby in federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart A. Berman said that Hornsby "defrauded the school system of his honest services" when he tried to enrich himself through surreptitious deals with a longtime business partner and with a saleswoman for an educational materials company who was his live-in girlfriend.

Paul W. Nochumowitz, who has been one of Baltimore's biggest ground rent owners, has agreed to a $1.53 million settlement of a lawsuit that accused him of living lavishly from ground-rent income while claiming he was too poor to compensate former tenants harmed by exposure to lead paint. The settlement ends a contentious court fight between Nochumowitz and bankruptcy trustee George Liebmann, who accused the ground rent owner in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore of concealing his wealth to escape liability for lead paint injuries in rental housing he owned.

GREENBELT - The courtroom was filled with familiar faces. The judge, the two prosecutors, the defense attorney and the defendant - all had faced each other before. The only thing different was the jury. As the retrial of former Prince George's County schools chief Andre J. Hornsby got under way yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Pauze made the same broad-stroke accusations that he had at Hornsby's previous trial, which ended in November with a deadlocked jury. But Pauze, in an encore he had not envisaged, appeared determined yesterday to establish a firmer, more credible case, to drive his points home with greater clarity, lest a similar fate befall Hornsby's new trial.

CHICAGO -- A federal judge sentenced former Chicago Sun-Times publisher F. David Radler to 29 months in prison yesterday for taking millions of dollars in unauthorized payments from the tabloid's parent company. He must surrender to authorities Feb. 25. U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve accepted the plea agreement between Radler and federal prosecutors that gave him a reduced sentence in exchange for pleading guilty and cooperating with government's investigation of a fraud scheme at Hollinger International Inc. He was also fined $250,000.

Is simple really better than complicated? Does being nice help you climb the corporate ladder? Yes, argues Baltimore consultant James Dale in his new book, The Obvious: All You Need to Know in Business. Period. Dale has worked in advertising for 25 years, including a stint as chief executive officer of the largest U.S. independent advertising agency, W.B. Doner & Co. Dale and his business partner, Gar Richlin, now run a management advisory firm, Richlin/Dale, in Baltimore, helping startups and young businesses grow.

A disbarred Towson lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to his role in a fraudulent property flipping scheme while a former business partner described his own flipping activities in another courtroom. Angus E. Finney, who was disbarred in 1997, pleaded guilty to one count in a 17-count indictment, admitting that his illegal activities cost lenders who financed the flips between $350,000 and $500,000. Finney was the ninth person convicted in recent months of defrauding mortgage lenders in property flips, where houses were bought and quickly resold at inflated values for a substantial profit, using falsified documents.

On his wedding day, the in-the-buff groom is expected to meet his partner - but not his new business partner, whom he mistakes for the masseuse he summoned for a pre-wedding massage. Bernard Slade's Romantic Comedy has cynical, successful Manhattan playwright Jason Carmichael assume that budding writer Phoebe Craddock has arrived at his apartment to administer his massage. Although she finds Jason a bit strange, Phoebe soon accepts an invitation to his wedding and his offer of a writing partnership.

As so often happens once wine begins to flow, the talk turned to relationships. Phone numbers were exchanged, plans made, partnerships suggested. But romance wasn't the goal at Wednesday night's wine tasting in Canton. Bettering business was. More than 100 people from the region's tech companies - members of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council, known as GBTC - paid $20 apiece to sip vino (and the occasional beer) and swap information. They came with high hopes that the mixing and mingling would land them new clients, new contracts and maybe even new employees.

He could say salty things about his experience in the industry. But handsome soul newcomer Governor Washington Jr. (he goes by just his first name) stresses over and over again, "I'm not mad." So what if a potentially lucrative partnership with celebrated producer Dr. Dre fell through? So what if he's recorded three albums, and only one, Son of Pain, will see the light of day next month? "It's in me to not let the system beat me," says Governor, who's calling from Washington. "I'm a ball of energy.