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A Freeborn County District Court judge granted a stay of adjudication Tuesday for the owner of a former Albert Lea construction company who pleaded guilty to stealing money that had been paid to him for real estate improvements.

Douglas Lyle Lembke, 70, will serve one year on supervised probation and will be required to pay almost $29,000 in restitution. If he completes the terms of the stay, his charge will ultimately be dismissed.

Lembke pleaded guilty to one count of theft of payment for real estate improvement in November as part of a plea agreement. Two other counts were dismissed.

Court documents state police began investigating Lembke in May 2023 after receiving a report of a couple who had signed a contract for a new deck with Lembke Construction and had paid their bill to the company totaling almost $70,000, but were later served with a lien by Arrow Building for the materials that were used in the project. Lembke had reportedly taken in the total payment for the project but had not paid Arrow Building for the supplies that were used.

Upon investigation, police learned there were two other people who had a similar problem with the company.

Lembke now lives in Katy, Texas.

Freeborn County District Court Judge Christy Horman said she would leave the transfer of Lembke’s probation to Texas up to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.