ROCHESTER, Minn. – A woman is sentenced for harboring a wanted man.

Karen Denise House, 55 of Rochester, pleaded guilty Thursday to obstructing the legal process. The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office says House took in Brian Rathbun, a fugitive accused of multiple crimes, in October 2019 and sheltered him for at least 24 hours.

Rathbun was found by law enforcement in House’s home and surrendered after officers used a pepper spray gun on him.
House has been sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation.

Rathbun has pleaded not guilty in Olmsted County to 5th degree drug possession, three counts of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, and driving after license cancellation. A trial is scheduled to being on April 20.

Rathbun has not yet entered a plea in Fillmore County to two counts of possession of firearms after being convicted of a crime of violence, fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, driving after license cancellation, and possession of drug paraphernalia.