A former International Falls woman accused of stealing a painkiller from a patient during surgery last fall pleaded guilty Thursday to felony fifth-degree controlled substance possession, under an Alford plea, according to her attorney, former Falls resident Brian Toder.

Sarah M. Casareto of the Twin Cities appeared in Hennepin County District Court Thursday. She was originally accused of stealing and withholding part of a dose of a powerful painkiller, fentanyl, from a patient during surgery while she was a nurse at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Twin Cities.

In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the evidence against her would likely be enough to convict her.

Under the plea, the charge against Casareto was changed from theft to possession, explained Toder.

On Thursday, the judge withheld her guilty plea and she will not be convicted of the charge, said Toder. She was placed on probation for three years and, with no violations, her record will be clean, he said.

“So there will be a happy ending,” Toder told The Journal Thursday. “When she is finished with probation, there will be no conviction and her record is wiped clean.”

She will serve no jail time and pay no fine. She has no previous court record. After she was charged, Casareto underwent treatment for drug addiction.

Toder said Casareto hopes to return to the nursing profession soon and will take her case to the state nursing board in an effort to reestablish her nursing license soon.

Under the Alford plea, Casareto did not present her case — only the government’s case against here is considered, Toder said.

However, Toder said Casareto admits she was there during the surgical procedure and had fentanyl and administered it to Larry V. King, the patient.

She admits that coworkers said she was acting strangely, he added, and admitted she had no legal rights to possess fentanyl in the course of her duties.

Toder also said Casareto agreed that one of the hospital employees would testify that 50 micrograms of fentanyl was unaccounted for, and admitted that following the surgical procedure, she refused to take a drug test when asked by the hospital.

“Based on those facts, it’s likely a jury using the reasonable doubt standard would convict her,” he said.

While Toder said the “alleged victim” testified in court “what a tragedy this was and the pain he was in, he left out that he intended to sue the hospital and Sarah Casareto from Day 1. He left out that the doctor who did the procedure gave a statement to police that he did not think the victim was in pain and that Sarah did give him fentanyl.”

Toder said Casareto had surgery herself in the last two years, which may have accounted for one positive test for fentanyl in a test that used a long hair strand; however he noted that a nail clipping and hair strand test, conducted on her behalf and at the drug treatment center she attended, both proved negative for recent drug use.

That information, said Toder, was not put on the record because of the Alford plea.