After nearly six hours of jury deliberation in an Olmsted County Court, on leave Austin Police Capt. Curt Rude has been found not guilty of felony theft and guilty of drug possession and gross misdemeanor interfering with property in official custody. The verdict was announced at 5:40 p.m. Thursday. Sentencing will take place Dec. 21 in Olmsted County.

Rude is charged with felony theft, drug possession and gross misdemeanor interfering with property in official custody after allegedly taking two bottles of the prescription drug OxyContin Nov. 6, 2007, the same day as his election to the Austin School Board.

Rude still serves on the board, with his term expiring in 2011.

According to a criminal complaint, the drug in evidence was labeled “Mark Johnson,” a close friend of Rude’s and a former KAAL-TV reporter who died of an OxyContin overdose in earlier 2007.

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