An ongoing corruption investigation involving bribery at the state Department of Labor could involve “much larger fish,” a defense attorney involved in the case said in court Tuesday.

The attorney’s client, Mark Anthony Sykes, 51, was sentenced to three years of supervised probation in connection with the case. Sykes owned a cleaning company that received $174,900 for cleaning services from the state between 2020 and 2021, and prosecutors said he paid “$20,000 or more” to a state official to ensure he received the contracts.

He pleaded guilty last month to making illegal payments to a public official.

Prosecutors with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General have alleged in court papers and in open court that the state official is Ronald V. Price, who at the time was the director of the Office of General Services for the Labor Department.

Price, however, has not been charged with any crime, and the Attorney General’s Office has declined to comment other than to say the investigation was ongoing. Attempts to reach Price on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

State officials said in an email Tuesday that Price stopped working for the Labor Department in March 2024, but declined to answer additional questions about the case.

At Sykes’ sentencing in Baltimore County Circuit Court, his defense attorney, Kurt Nachtman, alluded to a wider scope of the case, saying that there were “much larger fish” involved in the case and that Sykes had cooperated with authorities.

Nachtman told Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. that he anticipates his client would be testifying in “subsequent hearings in these matters.” Nachtman declined to comment further.

In a sentencing memorandum filed in Sykes’ case, prosecutors alleged that Price oversaw maintenance of Department of Labor facilities and manipulated the procurement process so that Sykes’ company, Building Enterprises LLC, would receive state cleaning contracts.

Price shared proprietary procurement information with Sykes and bypassed procedures altogether to award contracts unilaterally to Building Enterprises, prosecutors alleged. For example, in the summer of 2020, he allegedly shared with Sykes a completed proposal to clean a facility in downtown Bel Air, according to prosecutors.

“Procurement staff, seeking the lowest cost — and unaware Price had rigged the bidding — awarded the contract to Building Enterprise,” wrote Assistant Attorney General William J. Ellman.

Prosecutors accused Price in court papers of later disregarding the processes altogether and directed Building Enterprises to clean numerous state labor facilities. Price demanded 20% of the revenues for the work, prosecutors said, and Sykes paid him in cash.

Sykes, of Randallstown, works at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is a licensed real estate agent. Nachtman, his attorney, said the payments were “technically bribes,” but that he viewed them more as kickbacks, which he said Price had solicited.

He said Sykes “did not seek out this situation” and believed he had a “professional relationship” with Price. Sykes cut off ties with Price after problems arose, Nachtman said.

Sykes, who was described by his attorney and supporters as a hard-working family man who was active in his church and community, apologized for his actions.

Prosecutors asked that Sykes receive a sentence of five suspended years in prison with supervised probation. Ellman, the prosecutor, said that while Sykes had no prior record, the state wanted to send a message of deterrence. Nachtman asked for probation before judgment, which is less than what the judge ultimately handed down.

Cahill, the judge, said he would revisit the possibility of converting the sentence to probation before judgment if Sykes successfully completed the terms of his sentence after one year.