Former Colorado County Clerk Tina Peters Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for her role in a 2021 security breach at the elections office she was supposed to oversee.

Peters will spend the next six weeks to six months in the Mesa County Detention Facility before being transferred to the Colorado Department of Corrections, where she will serve a nine-year sentence.

Judge Matthew Barrett of the 21st Judicial District chose jail time instead of probation, citing factors such as the “immeasurable damage” Peters had done to local elections and trust in the electoral process and her lack of remorse. During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Barrett twice called Peters a “charlatan” who peddled snake oil that had been repeatedly proven to be false.

“I believe if you could do it over again,” Barrett said. “You’re a privileged person. You’re as privileged as they are. You use it to gain power and fame.

Peters, a well-known far-right conspiracy theorist, has been accused of Violation of Mesa County’s election system During the 2021 security update, claims attempting to prove election fraud were debunked. She served one term as clerk from 2019 to 2023 and ran unsuccessfully for Colorado secretary of state in 2022, finishing second in the Republican primary.

August 12, Monday Mesa County jury finds her guilty Three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one felony count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one misdemeanor count of official misconduct, one misdemeanor count of violation of duty at an election and one misdemeanor count of failure to comply with secretary’s rules. She was acquitted of two counts of criminal impersonation and one count of identity theft.

In a more than 40-minute speech in court, Peters asked the judge to suspend her sentence because she wanted to stay close to her mother, who lives in Virginia.

“People today are demanding harsh sentences. I feel sorry for them,” she said. “God doesn’t mess with his children. I’m a child of God.

She cited health issues that cannot be addressed in prison, such as the need for magnetic mattresses due to past injuries. She said she suffered from lung cancer in 2016 and underwent surgery to remove half of her lungs, resulting in some symptoms of shortness of breath.

“I regret it. I ask for leniency,” she said.

Not taking work seriously

However, Barrett wasn’t buying it.

He said Peters’ lies were well-documented and explained he took deterrence into consideration when sentencing. He noted that she never completed the required certification as county clerk, did not take her job seriously, disrespected law enforcement and posed a danger to the community.

“You’re a liar,” Barrett said. “You betrayed your oath.”

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement that Peters was being held accountable for his “dangerous attempt to break into his own election equipment in order to prove (former President Donald) Trump’s ‘big lie'” responsibility.

“Colorado’s elections are the gold standard in the country,” Griswold said. “I am proud of how we responded to the nation’s first internal election breach and look forward to another safe, successful election in November.”

“laughing stock”

Before Barrett announced the sentence, five people spoke on behalf of Peters, asking for leniency, and five others spoke in support of the maximum sentence.

A man who identified himself as Dave Bryan suggested that the court release Peters or the case “will become a bigger hairball in Colorado.”

“We offer you and the state of Colorado a solution to remand her to our custody in California,” Bryan said. “It makes no sense for Tina Peters to be detained for one day.”

Bryan called his proposal a solution that would “calm the storm” and said “the storm over this sentencing is just beginning.”

Opponents of leniency include Gerald Wood, a key witness in the case whose identity Peters used to allow unauthorized access before and during the May 2021 computer software update Safe Election Areas in Mesa County.

Wood said Peters put his family at risk by using Peters’ identity, and it appears he remains under investigation by the FBI. He said computer equipment worth $12,000 to $15,000 was confiscated from Woods’ home and has not been returned. And, as an independent worker in the software industry, he said it was difficult to find work because his name appeared in the national media.

Wood’s wife, Wendy Wood, gave an emotional speech in court, saying Peters had defamed her husband and continued to be “unrepentant” and “callous” towards anyone in power.

“I’m sickened by the death threats that were received against the people who were in the courtroom today (sitting in the courtroom),” Wendy Wood said.

Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis, a Republican, spoke next and told the court that Peters’ actions had cost Mesa County $1.4 million. After the investigation was launched, Peters continued to receive a paycheck while traveling around the country, Davis said. Davis said she also created distrust in the election system, leading the county to conduct a time-consuming and costly hand count in 2022, only to find there was no substance between the machine count and the hand count. sexual differences.

Davis said the county was required to hire a designated elections official while Peters was “traveling around the country.” He added that additional law enforcement personnel were assigned to the Mesa County Justice Center during Peters’ trial and sentencing, diverting those resources from elsewhere.

Davis, a Grand Canyon native, said he is most disturbed that Mesa County’s reputation has taken a hit in connection with Peters’ actions.

“She became the laughing stock of this community,” he said.

Support from election deniers

Speaking out for Peters was national election denier Douglas Frank, who held an “election seminar” in Grand Junction that led to the 2021 security breach. as an example.

“I am the best judge of Tina Peters’ state of mind,” Frank said. “It is beyond my belief that a Gold Star mother should be subjected to such tyranny. I beg you to restore Tina Peters’ God-given freedom.

Former Elbert County Clerk and Recorder Dallas Schroeder also defended Peters. Schroeder faces scrutiny from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office for working with unauthorized individuals in 2021 to create copies of voting machine hard drives. He said he voluntarily turned over images to the secretary of state — images he said were taken to prove or disprove problems with Dominion Voting Systems machines.

Claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent or compromised have been debunked election official, expert, media investigation, law enforcement and court.

Matt Crane, executive director of the County Clerks Association, said Peters’ actions resulted in death threats against election officials and their families. He said his own wife and children have been threatened, and that threats and intimidation stemming from Peters’ conspiracy theories have forced thousands of election workers to retire.

“She didn’t understand the job. She didn’t try to master it. She didn’t do her job to be a certified elections official,” Crane said. “She deserves the harshest punishment a court of law can impose. The only fraud was orchestrated by Tina Peters.

Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubenstein, who prosecuted the case, told the court that Peters “did not show any respect for the law.”

“This case is by far the most serious case of attempts to influence a public servant that I have ever seen in my career,” Rubinstein said. “This should result in the harshest possible sentence.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser thanked Rubinstein in a statement for his “commitment to justice and cooperation with my office to hold Tina Peters accountable.”

“We place a sacred trust in our election officials to conduct safe, honest and fair elections,” Weiser said. “Tina Peters violated her duties as an election official and seriously harmed her fellow Coloradans. Trust. Today, the court handed down a fair and just sentence for her criminal conduct, which put the security of our elections and the freedom and safety of others at risk.

This article was first published in colorado newswireis the Nebraska Examiner’s sister site in the national newsroom network.