Cumberland County Assistant District Attorney Deb Chmielewski will ask that a former Bridgton selectman be sentenced to jail when she appears in Cumberland County Superior Court Tuesday.

Joan Gardner pleaded guilty to a Class D charge of negotiating a worthless instrument Feb. 26. She has paid the $5,000 restitution required in the plea agreement settled that day.

Because Gardner paid it more than two weeks after the court-ordered deadline of April 15 and more than a year after initially agreeing to pay Bridgton resident William Shelley that amount to settle a rent dispute, Chmielewski said jail time is appropriate.

She could face a maximum of one-year in jail.

Gardner deferred comment on the case until she consulted with her attorney, Miklos Pongratz of Raymond. Shelley, however, was clear about what he wants.

“Joan needs to be taken to task for her disregard for the law, courts, judge and DA’s office as shown by her actions,” Shelley said.

The dispute between Shelley and Gardner goes back to 2004, when Gardner and her family rented a Bridgton home on South High Street from Shelley and his wife, Bergliot Forster.

After the death of her father, Gardner sought to terminate the lease so she and her family could move into his home.

Citing no 90-day termination clause in the lease as claimed by Gardner, Shelley held the family responsible for rent until the lease was terminated or he found new tenants.

Shelley eventually billed the Gardners for $4,400 for back rent and maintenance costs at the home and took his case to small claims court.

In December 2006, the case was dismissed when Gardner agreed to sign a promissory note for a lump sum of $5,000. She wrote a check to Shelley in February 2007 that was returned for insufficient funds, leading Shelley to file a criminal charge.

In June 2007, Gardner was indicted by a Cumberland County grand jury on a Class C felony charge of negotiating a worthless instrument, as the check was worth more than $1,000.

At her Feb. 26 hearing, the state reduced the level of the charge and promised to withhold sentencing until Aug. 26 if Gardner paid restitution by April 15.

Gardner resigned from the Bridgton Board of Selectmen in March, after first being elected in 2006. The board accepted her resignation March 25.

While Chmielewski said there was no way of knowing whether a judge would sentence Gardner to jail, she shared Shelley’s perspective on the case.

“She needs to be held accountable,” said Chmielewski, who noted Gardner had asked for the April 15 deadline during the plea agreement. Chmielewski added that Gardner had been delinquent settling the civil suit before she and Shelley agreed on the promissory note she would sign in 2006.

Shelley is just glad the years of wrangling could have come to an end. “I haven’t done a thing wrong, I just want my money,” he said.