TOWSON, Md. (AP) — The campaign committee of Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz plans to keep a donation from a developer charged with making straw contributions to a county councilman and exceeding contribution limits.

Kamenetz’s campaign treasurer, Charles Klein, tells The Baltimore Sun that the campaign committee doesn’t believe at the moment that it needs to return the $4,000 donation from Stephen W. Whalen, Jr. Klein says the contribution, made in March 2011, was within the legal limits.

Whalen was charged by the state prosecutor’s office this week with giving $2,500 in cash to three different people who then contributed that money to Councilman Tom Quirk last year. Quirk says he has returned that money, and Whalen’s lawyer has said that Whalen accepts responsibility and has worked out a plea deal with prosecutors.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)