BERNE — A jury here found Brian Hoover, 43, of East Berne, guilty of two misdemeanors — driving while ability impaired by a drug, and driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs.

Judge Alan Zuk presided over the Dec. 8 trial in Berne Town Court.

Hoover was charged on July 5, 2014 with a felony — driving while ability impaired by drugs, with a prior conviction in the last 10 years — and failure to keep right, an infraction. He had been convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2010.

A felony may carry a sentence of more than one year in jail while a misdemeanor involves jail time of one year or less. Hoover is to be sentenced in February.

He was arrested by Albany County Sheriff’s Deputy Philip Milano, who had been taken off patrol this year because of a complaint lodged against him. According to the arrest report, at about 5 a.m., as Hoover was driving to work, Milano saw him cross over the center line on Beaver Dam Road several times, failing to keep right. He noticed Hoover had glassy eyes and an unconcerned attitude, and saw a medication bottle sitting on the front passenger seat, the report said.

Upon being asked if he was on any type of medication, Hoover stated that he consumed two-and-one-half Xanax the previous day, as well as one half of a Xanax that morning, the report said; Hoover failed all the standard field sobriety tests except one, and tested negative for the presence of alcohol on a pre-screening device.

Hoover was then taken to the sheriff’s office in Clarksville where he registered a blood alcohol content level of 0, and, according to the report, submitted to a chemical blood test.

In May and again in June, Hoover’s lawyer, Jeffrey Richards of the Albany County Public Defender’s Office, had asked to have the charges dismissed, saying the time for prosecutors to act had expired, and Hoover’s basic right to a free trial had been violated.

He clashed with Assistant District Attorney Brittany Grome, who prosecuted the case.

“A person with a criminal case pending against him suffers great anxiety,” Richards told Zuk during his oral arguments in May.

Hoover had emphatically agreed outside of court this spring, saying he has problems with anxiety, depression, and congestive heart failure. He said then that he takes Xanax regularly.