A Crystal Lake man – due to be sentenced next week for an $8 million Ponzi scheme – is trying to take back a guilty plea in McHenry County court in which he admitted to defrauding a local veterans’ organization.

On July 24, Alan J. Hanke, 61, pleaded guilty in McHenry County to using a credit or debit card with the intent to defraud, a Class 4 felony, tied to charges that Hanke stole money from the McHenry-based Sons of the American Legion Post 491.

Hanke had entered a blind plea, meaning he didn’t know at the time what the punishment would be. Sentencing on a Class 4 felony ranges from probation to three years in prison.

But in a motion to withdraw his guilty plea filed Aug. 21 in court, Hanke claims that the plea was entered “under a misapprehension of the law ... [and] the facts.” He said there is a doubt to his guilt and he wants his case heard by a jury.

A new lawyer representing Hanke wrote in the court filing that Hanke’s attorney at the time “forced and coerced” him into the plea deal. He told his attorney he wanted to take the case to a jury trial, the filing states.

The guilty plea “was involuntary in that [Hanke] was under duress imposed by Counsel, and it was not a free and involuntary waiver of his Constitutional rights,” Hanke said in the motion, filed by attorney Albert Wysocki.

Hanke said he told his former attorney that he did not intend to defraud the American Legion. He wrote that he had provided that attorney with documentation and names of people in preparation for a jury trial which had been scheduled for July 28.

Hanke said he provided “documents of exculpatory evidence which Counsel never produced to the State therefore could never have been used at trial. Indeed, defense Counsel was entirely unprepared for trial because he had no intention of trying this case,” Hanke said.

His then-attorney “summoned” him to his office and told him “either plead guilty” or he “would withdraw as his attorney.” This “completely disheartened and mentally disturbed” Hanke’s confidence in his attorney, the motion said.

Hanke said withdrawing the guilty plea is “required to correct a manifest injustice.”

Court records indicate Hanke was represented at the time he entered the plea by an attorney with the firm McNamee and Mahoney, based in Dundee Township. A message left with the law firm Tuesday seeking comment was not returned. Wysocki, the attorney who filed the motion to withdraw Hanke’s plea, also could not be reached Tuesday.

In Hanke’s plea – which he now seeks to reverse – he admitted to using the legion’s debit card fraudulently between January 2023 and March 2024, while he was a commander for the legion, according to court records.

Authorities said Hanke used the card to make cash withdrawals and pay for meals at restaurants, make purchases at retail stores and on Amazon and to pay for boat rental in Florida, Assistant State’s Attorney Margaret O’Brien said in court when he pleaded guilty.

In exchange for Hanke’s plea, a charge of theft of property with a value between $10,000 and $100,000 was dismissed. In the new motion, Hanke said he wants this charge reinstated and argued at a jury trial.

Despite seeking to take back his guilty plea, Hanke told the judge at the time that he understood that he was waiving his right to a jury trial, and he responded no when the judge asked him if he anyone forced, threatened or coerced him to plead guilty, according to a transcript of the hearing submitted in court.

Arguments on the motion to withdraw the guilty plea are set for Sept. 23, three days before Hanke is due to be sentenced in McHenry County court.

Members of the local American Legion had submitted a letter to the court asking for the maximum sentence for Hanke.

“It is with great disappointment and a deep sense of betrayal that we report from the very first day of assuming the position of Commander of Detachment 491, [Hanke] deliberately and premeditatedly devised a plan to defraud our organization,” according to the letter. “These funds were not merely financial assets – they were earmarked for mission-critical support to our veterans and their families, including food pantry donations, transportation to VA medical appointments, essential home repairs, emergency clothing and more.”

An investigation began in April 2024, when legion members noticed funds were missing or unaccounted for, O’Brien said.

That investigation was ongoing when, in June 2024, Hanke pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in New York to defrauding investors of more than $8 million. He also pleaded guilty to declaring bankruptcy in an attempt to conceal his crimes, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Hanke is scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom for sentencing on his federal case Sept.4. However, a motion filed in that case last week – the same day he filed to reverse his guilty plea in McHenry County court – asked for a delay due to his ongoing medical issues. He faces five years in prison, Breon Peace, who was then U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, has said. Peace has since resigned from the office.

Hanke was arrested on the federal charges in January 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as he was boarding an international cruise, authorities said.

In a news release at the time, federal authorities said that “victims trusted Hanke with millions of dollars for what they were assured would be safe investments. In reality, the defendant deceived the victims and used their money to enrich himself with vacations and a luxury car, and then sought to abuse bankruptcy proceedings to shield his ill-gotten gains.”

The government has also ordered Hanke pay back $8.2 million in restitution.

In previous comments, the former federal prosecutor referred to Hanke’s charges in McHenry County and said he used some of those stolen funds to buy airline tickets to New York to appear in court on his federal charges.

Hanke “continued to lie and steal,” and his actions show “a profound lack of respect for this proceeding and a failure to grasp the seriousness of his conduct,” Peace wrote.

Shaw Media reporter Michelle Meyer contributed to this report.