ELKTON - A Bel Air town commissioner who is charged with theft in Cecil County requested a jury trial Wednesday morning.

Commissioner Terence Hanley, who is up for re-election to his commissioner seat Tuesday, appeared before Cecil County District Court Judge Stephen J. Baker in Elkton Wednesday morning, with his lawyer, H. Norman Wilson.

Wilson, on Hanley's behalf, requested a jury trial, which Baker granted, adding that Hanley should expect a trial notice in the coming weeks. Neither Hanley nor Wilson would comment after the court appearance.

In September, Hanley was charged by criminal summons with theft between $1,000 and $10,000 in connection with a business transaction he made as a manager of Ramsey Ford in Elkton, his former employer, in February.

At the time, someone purchased a vehicle at the dealership and traded in a 1997 Chevrolet Lumina, according to charging documents. The buyer gave Hanley $14,500 cash and in turn, Hanley gave Ramsey Ford $9,500 in cash after allegedly inflating the value of the trade-in from $2,000 to $7,320.38. Hanley then tried to sell the Lumina to a wholesaler.

Ramsey Ford notified police of the missing $5,000 in July and the next day, Hanley wrote a personal check to the business for $3,500, according to court records. The business also withheld a $1,600 check owed to Hanley.

In defense of his actions, Hanley stated that what he did was common practice in the best interest of his customer, according to charging documents, and he was holding the $5,000 because he was waiting to sell the traded in vehicle to someone else.

Hanley also told an investigator he was going to give Ross $5,000 in exchange for $2,300, according to charging documents, which the investigator said "didn't make sense."

His trial, or a pre-trial conference, is expected to be set in the next three to four weeks.