AUBURN – An Auburn man will serve three months in jail for leaving a woman after she fell off his motorcycle on Fairview Court in July 2006 and later died.

Superior Court Justice Thomas E. Delahanty II sentenced John Ferland on Thursday to 364 days in jail with all but 90 days suspended, ending 18 months of legal maneuvers.

In a plea agreement, Ferland pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of an accident, rather than the felony charge the state had pursued.

The district attorney’s office failed to prove that Ferland knew that Irene Douglas, 36, married and the mother of two, was badly hurt when he left her on July 22, 2006, Delahanty said.

Without that proof, the felony charge could not be used, the judge said.

It wasn’t what Douglas’ family wanted to hear.

Her son and daughter tearfully pleaded Thursday for Delahanty to reinstate the felony charge.

Six months in jail, the state’s request, would not be enough, daughter Nicole Johnson said.

“If he had not left my mother in the road, she would have been able to attend my graduation,” she said. In all, five members of the family made their pleas for a stiff penalty.

They were matched by Ferland’s character witnesses, including his supervisors at work and in the Air National Guard.

They created a portrait of Ferland as a model worker and patriot.

“He’s not been a person who makes bad choices, said Tim Dunham, a friend for 24 years. A former military supervisor described Ferland as “a natural leader.”

Ferland, himself, described his own regret at what he did that summer night, recounting what happened for the record.

“On that night, I failed gravely,” Ferland said. “I shirked my responsibility.”

He said he was celebrating his birthday with a friend, Scott Soulard, 36, of Old Orchard Beach, when they stopped at what was then the Midnight Blues Club on Auburn’s Main Street.

As he climbed onto his 2004 Harvey-Davidson, he heard a woman fighting with a man.

“I didn’t know who she was,” he said Thursday. “I’d never met her. She surprised me by getting on the back of my motorcycle.”

She said she needed to go to a friend’s house in Minot and asked for a ride.

“I told her to hold onto my belt,” Ferland said. Minutes later, as they took off through the hilly Auburn streets, she teetered on the back of his motorcycle.

“I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to control the bike,” he said. He slowed and turned onto Fairview Court to find a level spot when she fell, he said.

“She fell to the ground,” he said. “I immediately stopped the bike.”

He checked for a pulse. Then, he made sure she was breathing. “I didn’t see any sign of anything.”

He figured she’d passed out.

“I falsely believed Ms. Douglas was only intoxicated,” he said.

A neighbor came out of a nearby house and called for help. Then, Ferland and Soulard left.

Ferland said he wasn’t trying to avoid getting caught for drunken driving. He said he wasn’t drunk.

As he handed down his sentence, Delahanty said police found no evidence that Ferland was intoxicated.

He had been caught before, though.

Ferland was convicted in 1997 of operating under the influence, according to his state driving record. His blood-alcohol content was measured at .12 percent, according to Bureau of Motor Vehicle records. His license was suspended for two months.

It appears to be his only prior legal trouble, something that weighed in his favor when Delahanty handed down his sentence.

Ferland’s civic and family ties and work prospects all led Delahanty to lighten jail time in the plea bargain, he said.

“I don’t think it’s a bargain on anybody’s part,” he said. Besides the jail time, Ferland will serve a one year probation and must complete 300 hours of public service.

When the sentencing ended, Ferland was taken into custody.

Douglas’ family declined to comment.

And Ferland’s attorney, Leonard Sharon, called Delahanty’s decision “justice.”

“It was a textbook sentence,” he said. “You know you’re getting justice down in his courtroom.”