District Court, Kandiyohi County, Sept. 26

Carol Jane Tebben, 42, of Prinsburg, was sentenced to a $1,000 fine and five years of probation on a felony charge of fifth-degree controlled substance possession.

She was also ordered to serve one weekend in jail, report all medications to probation, comply with the recommendations of her counseling and have only one primary physician and pharmacy location. She received as stay of imposition on her sentence, so if she complies with the court's conditions, the conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Tebben was also sentenced to a $100 fine on a misdemeanor theft charge. As part of a plea agreement, a felony theft charge for taking prescription medication was dismissed.

The charges were filed after Willmar police were called April 21 to Bethesda Pleasantview Health Care to investigate a report of theft of prescription drug. Personnel there told the officer there was a problem with the prescription for liquid Lorazepam, a generic of Ativan, which is a Schedule IV controlled substance. A patient had been receiving the drug, was missing some, and the nursing staff suspected that a portion of the medication was removed and replaced with an unknown substance because there appeared to be too much in the medication bottle, which was filled to the neck.

Tebben met with an investigator and admitted to taking the drug, knowing it was an anti-anxiety drug, for her own anxiety issues. She admitted to taking 0.5 milligrams on five occasions and to putting the liquid in a medicine cup and taking the drug orally after her shift was over. She also said she attempted to replace the missing drug with water.