ELYRIA — The owner of the Club 57 strip club took a plea deal Wednesday, putting him one step closer to resolving a string of legal issues that have plagued him this year.

David Shapiro, 44, pleaded guilty to attempted child endangering, a charge that could send him to prison for a year when he is sentenced next month by Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Raymond Ewers.

County Prosecutor Dennis Will said he doesn’t anticipate asking for Shapiro, who allowed a 15-year-old Michigan girl to dance at the club, to be locked up.

Under the plea agreement, Shapiro agreed to never again own or operate another club, bar or other liquor establishment in the state of Ohio.

After the hearing, Shapiro said the club remains open and he is in discussions to sell it. He also said that one of his employees hired the girl, who had run away from home with friends.

But he said as the owner of the club, he was responsible for his employees.

Prosecutors contend that the girl looked young enough that Shapiro should have asked for her identification and that it was Shapiro, not an employee, who hired her.

The club opened in 2006 over the objections of the city, whose attorneys cited city ordinances that prohibit an adult entertainment establishment from being within a quarter-mile of another business that sells alcohol.

Club 57 is located in the former Mountain Jack’s building next to the Elyria Holiday Inn, which also has a liquor license.

Last year, county Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski ruled that Club 57 could remain open as long as the strippers covered their genitalia and portions of their breasts.

But undercover Elyria police officers who visited the club in December and February said the strippers exposed themselves in ways that violated Betleski’s order and offered them private nude dances.

The city had sought to have Shapiro held in contempt of court because of the alleged violations.

Elyria Assistant Law Director Mike Szekely said a deal has been reached with Shapiro to resolve those issues as well, but he declined to discuss that agreement until Betleski approves it at a hearing set for later next month.

Doug Merrill, one of Shapiro’s attorneys, said his client hopes to resolve all of the legal issues he has pending and move on with his life and possibly even move out of state to pursue other business opportunities.

Shapiro said his legal problems, which also include nearly $64,000 in delinquent property taxes that he owes on the club, were having a serious impact on his business.

“There have been some significant expenses,” he said.

James Gemelas, another of Shapiro’s lawyers, said the city has gone after his client in every way imaginable, including filing property maintenance charges against him. Those charges were dropped when Shapiro fixed the problems noted by the city.

“They went after him tooth and nail,” Gemelas said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

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