Back to jail for ex-official Gardner

OREM — A former Utah County commissioner is going back to jail. Again.

David J. Gardner was recently sentenced to 60 days in the Utah County Jail for several new misdemeanor charges and a probation violation.

Officers cited Gardner in March for driving without an interlock device, driving on a revoked or suspended license and driving on an expired registration, charges to which he pleaded guilty.

Gardner was ordered to install an interlock device in his vehicle after a May 2008 DUI arrest and subsequent conviction.

Police said they stopped a staggering Gardner as he tried to get into his car at a 7-Eleven with a blood alcohol level around .219, nearly halfway to dead at .50.

However, Gardner's woes aren't over with his 60-day punishment. The new car-related charges also mean he violated another probation agreement.

In August, Gardner was sentenced to a year of probation for an assault on a 26-year-old woman whom he had just met.

Prosecutors said he fondled the thigh of the Payson woman and repeatedly kissed his fingers and touched her face while they were driving together.

At that sentencing in August 2008, Gardner avoided jail but was given a year of probation and ordered to remain alcohol-free, not violate the law, complete mental health treatment and pay for the victim's counseling.

Springville prosecutor Paul DeWitt said he has filed an order to show cause in that case, which might result in Gardner serving more jail time.

Gardner, a commissioner from 1995 to 2002, has been arrested three times for driving under the influence, although a misdemeanor charge from 1999 was dismissed on a technicality.

The second DUI charge, in 2000, earned him two days on work detail through the jail, a fine and probation. The third DUI charge from May 2008 meant 10 days in jail.

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com