Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Yes you still must successfully complete your probation. You did not “execute your time.” An executed sentence would be a full year on a gross misdemeanor, and more than a year in prison on a felony. Not to mention, if you execute your sentence then you’ll lose out on the stay of adjudication and you’d be convicted of the crime.

A Stay of Adjudication has the advantage of postponing adjudication or conviction for a period of time with conditions. At the end of the stated time period, if no conditions are violated, the criminal charge is dismissed with no conviction under Minnesota law. Since there is no conviction in the beginning of a Stay of Adjudication, there is strictly speaking no "sentencing." Jail time may be required as one of the conditions of the stay, however. Completing the jail time condition would not normally complete a Stay of Adjudication, since these typically are also conditioned upon "no same or similar offenses" or similar.