ALFRED — A Kittery man was found guilty Friday while his wife was acquitted on charges of stealing more than $10,000 in refunds and handling fees for beverage containers that were brought to their redemption center from out of state.

The verdicts were handed up in York County Superior Court by two separate juries in the state’s first criminal trial over bottle redemption fraud, a prevalent problem along Maine’s border.

Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin tried to prove during the four-day trial that Megan and Thomas Woodard, former owners of Green Bee Redemption in Kittery, had helped to set up satellite redemption centers at an indoor sports complex in Derry, N.H., and at their employee’s home in Gloucester, Mass.

Robbin said Reed and Prybot were paid by check for redeeming more than 100,000 containers from 2008 to 2010.

The Woodards’ attorneys said the couple didn’t know the containers had been purchased out of state. Green Bee had on file a form filled out by Reed, saying the containers had come from sports complexes in Maine. Prybot testified Tuesday that the Woodards never asked him where his containers had been bought.

Maine customers pay 5-cent deposits to beverage distributors when they buy most canned and bottled drinks. Wine and liquor bottles carry 15-cent deposits.

In Massachusetts, deposits are paid only on beer, malt and carbonated beverages, not on water, juice and sports drinks, as they are in Maine. There are no deposits on bottle and cans bought in New Hampshire.

The Woodards were indicted in February on a charge of theft by deception. They were accused on stealing more than $10,000 from Maine beverage manufacturers, distributors and their collection agents.

Reed was indicted in July on a charge of stealing more than $1,000 from Maine distributors. He is scheduled to appear in York County Superior Court in October. The state agreed not to prosecute Prybot in exchange for his testimony.

The investigation into Green Bee began with a tip from an employee of SportsZone that the business was sorting and hauling out empty containers by the trailer-full. Robbin said that led the state to collect “the strongest evidence we have in the most egregious case we know of at the time.”

Thomas Woodard’s attorney, Leonard Sharon, declined to talk about the case Friday and said the Woodards had no comment.

Robbin said she will pursue jail time for Thomas Woodard, whose sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

Augur said he hopes the case will raise awareness about Maine’s bottle bill and serve as a warning to those who violate it.

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