A jury found a Lawrence woman guilty of one felony count of blackmail on Wednesday.

It took jurors about six hours to find Karon Ballard, 65, guilty of trying to get a work supervisor to buy her gifts and give her money in order to keep their affair secret.

Because of a physical ailment, Ballard was not in the courtroom when Judge Paula Martin read the verdict.

Ballard started working at Pearson Government Solutions in Lawrence in 2000. She became friends with a new supervisor, Richard Villarreal, in late 2002.

Soon after, they began a two-and-a-half-year affair.

Ballard asked Villarreal to buy her gifts early in 2005, but Villarreal refused, according to a police officer’s affidavit.

On Nov. 1, 2005, Ballard had back surgery. After the surgery, Ballard said she was angry and upset that Villarreal did not contact her while she was in the hospital for eight days following her surgery.

“Could you just send me a card? That’s all I asked,” Ballard said in testimony Tuesday. “I got nothing for those eight days.”

According to a police officer’s affidavit, Ballard called Villarreal after she got out of the hospital and told him that he could either buy her nine gifts, pay her $1,500 or she would file a sexual harassment claim against Villarreal.

Villarreal played voice-mail messages containing Ballard’s demands to police.

Those voice mails were played to jurors on Wednesday.

Sarah Swain, attorney for Ballard, argued that her client took several prescription painkillers at the time she left the messages and could not fully control her thoughts and actions.

“When you listen to the messages, you hear a woman who is a little loopy to say the least,” Swain said in closing arguments.

She added that in the days between the voice-mail messages and when Villarreal contacted police, Ballard did not follow through with the threats she outlined in the messages.

Brenda Clary, assistant district attorney, said Ballard’s threat, along with the attempt to draw something of value from Villarreal, was enough to constitute blackmail.

“It doesn’t have to be carried out,” Clary said.

Afterward, Swain said the verdict came as a disappointment.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” Swain said. “We thought the jury would see that this was not blackmail and Ms. Ballard was under the influence of painkillers.”

A sentencing date has not been set.

According to Kansas sentencing guidelines, Ballard likely will receive probation with an underlying sentence of 11 to 13 months in prison.