A six-member jury delivered three guilty verdicts Friday afternoon in the felony misconduct case against suspended Monroe County schools Superintendent Randy Acevedo.</p><p>Acevedo, without a visible reaction, was handcuffed, taken into custody by a bailiff and escorted through a side door of the courtroom to jail. Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones called his release without surety "inappropriate" and ordered Acevedo to post a $15,000 bond to be released.</p><p>The convictions stem from his cover-up of wife Monique Acevedo's alleged theft of nearly $200,000 from the School District. Each count is a third-degree felony and carries a maximum sentence of five years and up to $15,000 in fines.</p><p>The jury deliberated more than three hours after listening to two days of testimony presented by the prosecution. Acevedo's defense attorney, Catherine Vogel, presented no witnesses and the suspended superintendent didn't take the stand.</p><p>"We ran on anti-public corruption," State Attorney Dennis Ward said, standing on the steps of the Freeman Justice Center in Key West after the verdict was delivered.</p><p>"I thought that our prosecutor [Assistant State Attorney Mark Wilson] did a good job in preparing the case and presenting it to the jury. They were very attentive."</p><p>Asked if the superintendent's trial laid the groundwork for the prosecution of Monique Acevedo, Ward said, "We're still working on that. There are going to be more charges in that case."</p><p>Monique Acevedo, formerly the district adult education coordinator, faces three felony counts of grand theft and one of fraud. She's set for trial in October.</p><p>A sentencing hearing for Randy Acevedo is scheduled for Sept. 17.</p><p>"I'm not sure that he'll serve jail time," Ward said, adding that he will confer with Wilson before commenting further on whether the state would seek a harsh penalty.</p><p>"There's not much to think about," School Board Chairman Andy Griffiths told the Keynoter. "A jury was selected ... and that jury made a finding."</p><p>He said that a School Board vote on Tuesday to petition Gov. Charlie Crist to permanently remove Acevedo from his district post did not hinge on the outcome of the trial. Crist suspended Acevedo on June 11 pending the outcome of his trial.</p><p>"Obviously there's going to be people that are going to be very loyal to Mr. Acevedo, but we all have crisis come into our lives and we all deal with it in different ways and hopefully we can move on from this," Griffiths said.</p><p>The jury, four women and two men, found Acevedo guilty on three separate counts of official misconduct:</p><p><LI> On Feb. 11, Acevedo supplied School District Finance Director Kathy Reitzel, the state's star witness, with a letter justifying the cost of a satellite radio subscription that was written on a nonprofit agency's letterhead. Officials at that agency, the Monroe Association of ReMARCable Citizens, testified they never wanted, nor received, such a subscription, which apparently was bought by Monique Acevedo with her district-issued credit card.</p><p><LI> On Feb. 13, Acevedo called Reitzel to his office, asking that she not disclose at that time Monique's suspected theft. Reitzel had earlier brought the issue to the superintendent.</p><p><LI> On either Feb. 25 and 26, Acevedo signed a document that was sent to the state Auditor General's Office saying he had "no knowledge of any allegations of fraud or suspected fraud" affecting the School District.</p><p>"Mr. Acevedo was presented with evidence that his wife was in deep trouble," Wilson told jurors in his closing argument. "And what'd he do? He was just trying to protect her."</p><p>Wilson referred jurors to a report Reitzel gave Acevedo on Feb. 12. On the stand, Reitzel testified that the report contained evidence of 180 purchase-card charges totaling more than $29,000 for items deemed "questionable."</p><p>Wilson also addressed the defense's contention that Acevedo was busy and trusted his department heads to monitor their particular areas of expertise.</p><p>"There's been some suggestion from the defense that perhaps this situation arose because he's a busy man," Wilson told jurors. "He's got a big job. When he was presented on the 12th of February with this packet of materials ... was he too busy?"</p><p>Vogel declined comment on whether an appeal is planned.