When One Rent Payment Isn’t Enough: Saint Leonard Landlord Faces Felony Theft Charge

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — A Saint Leonard man is facing a felony theft charge after Maryland State Police alleged he deposited and cashed two rent checks from the same tenant for the same month, according to court documents.

John Joseph Behun, 59, of Saint Leonard, was charged in the District Court for Calvert County with theft of property valued between $1,500 and $25,000.

According to the application for statement of charges, troopers responded to the Maryland State Police Prince Frederick Barrack on May 20, 2026, after a woman reported that one of her rent checks had been fraudulently cashed.

Court documents state the woman told investigators that her landlord asked her to pay her May rent early because he planned to be out of town. She complied by writing Behun a check for $2,400.

According to charging documents, Behun later told the tenant the ATM had rejected the check and that he had been unable to access the funds. Believing the first payment had not gone through, the tenant wrote him a second rent check for $2,400.

After issuing the second check, the woman contacted her bank and learned that both checks had been negotiated on May 14, 2026, at the PNC Bank branch in Prince Frederick, according to court records.

Investigators obtained surveillance footage from the PNC Bank branch in Prince Frederick that allegedly showed Behun entering the bank with the two checks. Approximately five minutes later, he was seen leaving the bank with a receipt indicating both checks had been cashed, according to charging documents.

A summons was served July 15, 2026.

Behun is scheduled to appear for a preliminary inquiry on Sept. 14, 2026, in the Calvert County District Court.

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