Girlfriend Pleads Guilty to Planning Murder of Witness

An Annapolis woman has pleaded guilty to planning to kidnap and kill the primary witness in a criminal case against her boyfriend, Savvas Pantelides, a cousin of Annapolis’ mayor.

As Patch earlier reported, Stacie Roberts, 33, was arrested May 5 for planning a kidnapping and homicide so the main witness against her boyfriend, Savvas Pantelides, wouldn’t be able to appear in court against him.

Roberts pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser charge of soliciting to induce or inhibit testimony in a felony, reports the Capital-Gazette. She faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on Jan. 15.

Savvas Pantelides is in jail facing 17 criminal charges, including attempted first-degree murder, in the January 2013 shooting of a Harwood man. The criminal counts relate to an armed robbery of Brett Shumaker, 32, of Harwood. The charges include attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery and first-degree assault.

Savvas Pantelides is the son of Andre Pantelides, a member of Mayor Mike Pantelides’ campaign team and the mayor’s uncle. The younger Pantelides sometimes appeared at campaign events when Mike Pantelides ran for mayor.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department said it received tips from an informant that Roberts had asked about a possible kidnapping and homicide of the primary witness against her boyfriend.

A detective, posing as an outlaw motorcycle gang associate, met with Roberts to discuss what she wanted done. Roberts insisted on several occasions that she didn’t want the victim to appear in court, police said.

Roberts gave the victim’s name, description and address to the detective with $1,600 in cash and prescription pills. Police said the payment was in exchange for having the witness killed.

Pantelides and an associate, Maurice Hall, Jr., 27, are scheduled to go to trial Dec. 16 on charges including attempted first-degree murder.