Md. Senate candidate wanted for theft in Texas
Hanna accused of stealing car, writing bad checks; prosecutors seek extradition
Will Hanna, a candidate for State Senator, speaks to Nathaniel… (Al Drago, Baltimore Sun )
A week before Maryland's primary elections, prosecutors in Texas are seeking to extradite a Baltimore candidate for state Senate on a felony charge of theft.
Will J. Hanna, 43, who is challenging Sen. Lisa Gladden in the Democratic primary for the 41st Senate District, is accused of stealing a car six years ago from an attorney in Guadalupe County, Texas.
Hanna is also accused of writing $19,000 in bad checks in neighboring Bexar County, prosecutors there said. Those are misdemeanor charges.
Hanna, who lives in the 3700 block of Reisterstown Road in Northwest Baltimore, denies any wrongdoing. He says he knew nothing of bad checks when he left Texas six years ago, and blames people associated with a marketing business he ran there.
He was indicted this month by a grand jury in Guadelupe County on felony charges of theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Prosecutors say Hanna attempted to buy a 1994 XJ Jaguar Vanden Plas from local attorney David Willborn in 2008, wrote a $5,000 check that bounced and never returned the vehicle.
In Bexar County, Hanna is accused of writing bad checks to sporting goods companies, Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut and other businesses.
Hanna said he did not write the checks and doubted he was even in Texas when they were written. He said he moved to Baltimore from Texas in 2008.
"I had nothing to do with this," Hanna said. He called the charges "political," and said they were intended to hurt his campaign.
"They do not want me to win at City Hall," he said. "They will go to any lengths to smear me. Why is it coming up now?"
Early voting began last week for the primary elections. Election Day is June 24. Hanna, president and CEO of the New Park Heights Community Development Corp., is trying to unseat the incumbent Gladden, the vice chairwoman of the powerful Judicial Proceedings Committee and the Senate majority whip.
Willborn, who is now the Guadalupe County attorney, said he doesn't care about Maryland politics. He said he searched for Hanna for years, but located him only recently, when he found Hanna's Senate campaign on Facebook.
"It's political only in that he put himself in the political realm, so I was able to find him," Willborn said. "He absconded. He ripped me off. He's been ripping people off for years."
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