AUGUSTA — A former Republican candidate for the Maine Legislature is going to jail for seven days after pleading guilty to violating Maine’s Clean Election Act.

Michael Hein was sentenced Tuesday in Kennebec County Superior Court in a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Hein told state officials he had collected $5 contributions from 60 registered voters to qualify for public campaign funds to run for House District 57. The state Ethics Commission later determined that 15 of the contributors had not signed Hein’s application or made $5 contributions.

The Maine attorney general’s office says if Hein’s misrepresentation hadn’t been uncovered, he would have qualified for $486 in public campaign funds for the primary and $3,937 for the general election.

Hein lost in last month’s GOP primary.