A 27-year-old Austin man being held in the Mower County jail for allegedly manufacturing methamphetamine was sentenced Friday for stealing a rifle in June.

Anthony Barrett Graham was sentenced to 20 years probation, in lieu of 18 months in prison, for the felony theft conviction. Three other charges, including two felony burglary counts, were dismissed when Graham pleaded guilty to theft.

According to a court complaint, Graham admitted to stealing the rifle when he burglarized a house in the 600 block of 10th Ave. NW in June. He also admitted to stealing a shotgun and laptop computer, according to court documents. Graham told police he sold the rifle to Jacob Harm Wilde, a 33-year-old Austin man who has been arrested at least three times in 2011 for meth-related crimes.

Police questioned a third man, 31-year-old Benjamin James Weis, of Austin, after learning from a confidential informant that Weis was in possession of a 7 mm rifle with a Nikon scope, which was the description of the stolen rifle from the June burglary. Weis told officers Wilde had given him the rifle, and Weis in turn sold it to a Lansing Township man, according to the court complaint.

Wilde and Weis have since been sentenced to prison on drug-related crimes.

Graham told police his girlfriend sold the other stolen firearm for $100 and traded the laptop computer for crack cocaine.

Graham was sentenced in two other cases Friday, as well. He was convicted of fifth-degree drug possession and violating a no contact order. The sentences will all run concurrently as 20 years probation, according to court documents.

He is awaiting trial on charges of manufacturing meth.