Gordon directed Tiffany Reaves to befriend Hayes, prosecutors said. Gordon then fatally shot Hayes while he was seated in a vehicle waiting to meet a woman who turned out to be Gordon’s girlfriend, prosecutors said.

Gordon faces a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for killing a federal witness, prosecutors said.

Ehrlich aide avoids jail

Former Republican Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s campaign manager was sentenced to 30 days home detention for conspiring to use Election Day robocalls to suppress black voter turnout by encouraging blacks to stay home.

A federal judge in Baltimore also ordered Paul Schurick, 55, to serve 500 hours of community service.

Thousands of calls went out on Election Day 2010 while the polls were still open, encouraging mostly Democratic voters in Prince George’s County and the Baltimore area to “relax” because the election had been decided and that “the only thing left to do is watch it on TV tonight.”

Schurick, 55, was found guilty of election fraud and failing to include Ehrlich campaign identification at the end of the ad.

Another guilty plea in housing scandal

A second D.C. man pleaded guilty to embezzling $1.4 million from a bank account belonging to the Baltimore Housing Authority.

According to his plea agreement, 44-year-old William Darden used a co-defendant’s identification to debit money from the housing agency into an account for a fictitious contracting company.

Darden faces up to 30 years in prison at his sentencing, slated for May 23.

— Scott McCabe