Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Lower Columbia Currents, which reports news and opinion about Southwest Washington. It is published, reported and written by award-winning journalist Andre Stepankowsky. Learn more by visiting the Lower Columbia Currents Substack.
Former Woodland mayor and suspended Washington state trooper Will Finn has been charged with 16 felony counts of identity theft, thefts, malicious prosecution and destruction of public records.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office filed the case Tuesday after taking 15 months to review an investigation by the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office.
Finn, 48, is due to make a preliminary court appearance on July 15. He did not return a phone call request for comment on Wednesday.
Finn’s wife and co-defendant, Heather, is charged with one count each of first-degree theft and second-degree theft. The couple still live in Woodland.
They are accused of multiple class C felonies, which each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $10,000 fine.
Lewis County reviewed the cases to avoid potential conflicts of interest and appearance of fairness concerns because of Finn’s law enforcement and political ties in Cowlitz County.
A preliminary hearing for Finn is scheduled for 1 p.m. July 15 in Cowlitz Superior Court. A trial — if the case reaches that stage — will be held in Cowlitz County unless a change of venue is requested.
Finn has been on paid leave from the state patrol since March 1, 2025. He was paid $127,241.01 during the following 14 months, according to WSP spokesman Chris Loftis.
Finn will remain on paid leave while the case proceeds, Loftis said.
“The Washington State Patrol recognizes the seriousness of the allegations and the criminal charges filed against the employee,” Loftis said by e-mail. "It is always disappointing when someone in a position of trust is accused of wrongdoing, but we respect everyone’s right to due process as well as the court system’s ability to independently consider all evidence presented and eventually render a fair and just determination.”
Loftis said that WSP will “conduct an independent administrative review of any information developed through the criminal investigation that may indicate a violation of agency policy, procedure, or employee conduct standards. While unsatisfying to those rightfully concerned over allegations of inappropriate and illegal actions by a public employee, this time-tested approach is in the best interest of due process, the public, the employee, and the agency.”
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office has never explained why it took so long to review the case. Prosecutors there were not available Wednesday to comment.
The alleged crimes occurred over a span from June 1, 2019, through September 2024, a period that overlaps partially with Finn’s tenure as mayor. No city money is alleged to have been stolen.
The Cowlitz Sheriff’s Office had sought first- and second-degree theft charges against Finn and his wife. Its investigation found that the Finns used a Visa business card to defraud a vacation rental owner who employed Heather Finn.
The couple allegedly used the card to pay for their groceries, men’s cologne and other items for men, women’s clothing, fuel, expensive dinners, and other household items, according to the sheriff’s report.
Will Finn, though not an employee of the rental business, used the card to pay off a $1,945.28 balance for a trip to Mexico in 2021 for himself, his wife and three young people, the report says.
The investigation said it documented more than $10,000 in personal expenses the Finns paid “by color or aid of deception,” making it a first-degree theft case.
Michann Bond, 64, the owner of vacation rental properties in Woodland known as Third Street Villas, is the Finn’s alleged theft victim.
She said by phone Wednesday that the Lewis Prosecutor “took way too long” to file charges. “They would not communicate with me and they were trying to protect him (Finn). They said they didn’t want this case and they had bigger cases to deal with.”
Bond, a 13-year Woodland resident, said her losses to the Finns are closer to $80,000 because the couple did not pay off a loan.
Because Finn is a state trooper, “I never questioned him. I never dreamed. … That is my naiveté. When I started asking questions, she (Heather Finn) started whining. I went and got receipts. They told me lie after lie. I tried to settle out of court and they pushed back. I had to go to the police.”
Bond said Finn parked outside her home in what she believes were attempts to intimidate her. “I was worried about driving. What was he going to do, pull me over? Until he lost his badge I was totally on edge.”
She said her losses have not jeopardized her financial stability. She said she has owned many rental properties in her life and “worked my butt off” to become comfortable.
“I’ve done very well,” she said.
However, Bond said, she is selling off two rental properties because she no longer trusts anyone to manage them.
“I trust no one. That’s what they stole from me.”
Finn also was subject to a Thurston County Sheriff’s investigation in which he is accused of destroying public records while he served as Woodland mayor from 2016 until 2023, when he lost his re-election bid. He is alleged to have deleted records from his city-issued cell phone.
The charges filed Tuesday contain little detail about the alleged offenses. Detailed information had not yet been uploaded into court management systems.
Most of the counts against Finn are for second-degree identity theft related to illegal use of the business Visa card. He also faces one count of first-degree theft and one count of malicious prosecution, in which he is accused of “maliciously and without probable cause … attempt(ing) to cause another to be arrested or proceeded against for extortion.”
The former mayor also is accused of violating state law that prohibits injury to or destruction of a public record sometime during December 2023, when he was about to leave the mayor’s office.
Court documents note that Finn abused his position of public trust.
Finn is the second prominent public official recently accused of criminal conduct. Suspended Longview School Superintendent Karen Cloninger faces charges that she covered up sex abuse among members of the Mark Morris High School basketball team and tried to intimidate a witness.
