The husband of the former Davenport mayor, forced to resign after taking a plea deal, called the entire situation “overblown” and “very political.”

“If you wanted to get her out of office, it worked,” said John Lepley, Teresa Darlene Bradley’s husband.

He said his wife was not available for an interview.

Bradley was mayor for five years, before she resigned Friday. Her resignation came a little more than a week after she was arrested and accused of using the disabled parking placard of a dead person to park in reserved parking spots in front of City Hall.

Undercover deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said they caught her on camera, after the department received an anonymous tip.   

In her resignation letter, Bradley said it was time to move on.

“The last five years of, just like you, 14 hour days working for a living- then another 3 or 4 hours each day and lots of weekends being the mayor you deserve- takes a huge toll after a while. It’s time for a little quiet time with my family,” she wrote.

Lepley said his wife was heartbroken and it was tough for her to resign.

"She spent 8 hours in jail," he said. "She was then told she was going to be in jail for ten years. It terrified her to death. Just for parking in a handicap spot. Not that she's belittling it, not that she or me are sitting here saying. We shouldn’t have done that.”

“We’re sorry we’ve embarrassed our city. She’s really broken about how she’s embarrassed our city,” he added.

Lepley admitted it was his idea for his wife to use the disabled parking placards in cases of emergency. He said they obtained them when a mechanic found them in a used car they had bought.

"Was it right? No. It was wrong but in our mind, the sign right there said it's a $250 fine. I'm willing to pay $250 to save my wife's life if it's necessary,” Lepley said.

When asked if they had realized how serious of a crime it was, Lepley said, “We thought it was a $250 fine. That’s what is says. Did we realize that using somebody's else's was? No.”

Lepley said his wife was carjacked, kidnapped and beaten back in 2012, and was afraid of leaving city hall alone to walk to her car at night.

"To her and to me, for us to go up here and create a parking spot because I'm mayor, that would be the epitome of arrogance. All she wanted was someone to walk her to her car,” Lepley said.

He claims her police escort wasn't always there.

District Attorney Brian Haas said taking the matter into her own hands and breaking the law wasn't the right idea.

"It certainly wasn't good for her as mayor to do that but to her credit she took responsibility for it. She entered a quick resolution. I think that was the honorable thing to do by resigning,” Haas said.  

Lepley said his wife had to endure two trials related to the kidnapping. He didn't think she could endure a trial on this case.

Some residents were sad to see her go.

"She made a mistake. She's done more for this town than anybody ever has,” said Joey Park, her neighbor.  “We now have stuff for Halloween for the kids, Fourth of July fireworks, she worked on the baseball field."

Others around town said she did the right thing by resigning.

"You need to lead by example when you're a mayor. For you going out doing that, you kind of need to resign,” said Brian Park.

According to Haas, Bradley pleaded no contest to unlawful use of a handicap placard. The two felony charges she faced were dismissed. Along with her resignation, she received six months probation and had to pay $420.50 in court fines.

Davenport commissioners will likely discuss what's next in terms of filling her position during the city’s next meeting, which is set for Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.