A Grayson Circuit Court jury has found David E. Underhill, a former Leitchfield Post Office employee, not guilty of embezzling $6,000 in postal funds.

The jury deliberated 40 minutes Friday, Jan. 16, before returning the verdict that cleared Underhill, of Leitchfield, of charges resulting from a routine audit in September 1999 that noted the missing money.

The case had first been presented in federal court, but the judge threw out the case for lack of evidence.

In that proceeding, the court said Underhill had reported a key to his cash drawer missing in February 1999, but that his supervisors had not changed the locks or done anything to fix the problem then.

Underhill was fired from his job as a clerk on Nov. 5, 1999.

Through his attorney, Dennie Hardin of Bowling Green, Underhill waived any defense before Judge Sam Monarch in the local trial, court records showed.

Since his indictment by a local grand jury, Underhill had been free for the past year and a half on a $10,000 unsecured cash bond. He had served no time in jail.