MESA COUNTY, Colo. — On Thursday, former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after being convicted of several felony charges in an election computer breach case. After that sentence is complete, she will serve six months in jail, for a total of nine years behind bars.
"Your lies are well documented, and these convictions are serious," 21st Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett told Peters at her sentencing. "I'm convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You're as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen."
Peters has said she is innocent, a claim she repeated even after a jury convicted her of seven out of 10 charges in August. She has shown off her ankle monitor on her podcast.
"You are no hero. You abused your position and you're a charlatan who used, and is still using, your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that's been proven to be junk time and time again in your world," Barrett told Peters.
The jury found Peters guilty on the following charges:
- Three counts of attempt to influence a public servant
- One count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation
- One count of official misconduct
- One count of violation of duty
- One count of failure to comply with secretary of state requirements
Peters faced a maximum of up to roughly 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors said she granted conspiracy theorists illegal access to voting systems in Mesa County as she searched for proof of voter fraud. Peters has falsely claimed that Denver-based Dominion voting systems rigged the election against former President Donald Trump.
According to the initial indictment, Peters violated state rules to get an unknown man into the May 25 and 26, 2021, in-person systems upgrade of the county's Dominion Voting Systems equipment for the November 2021 election.
Trump allies like MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell, one of the nation’s most prominent election conspiracy theorists, have helped fund her legal defense. Online, Peters has claimed her conviction is part of a conspiracy to cover up election rigging.
Peters asked Barrett for probation ahead of her sentencing. She told the judge she recognized the jury’s decision, but she argued that they weren't allowed to hear all of her evidence. When handing down her sentence, Barrett told Peters she was more privileged than other defendants he sees in the courtroom, and that she had shown no remorse for what she's done or the lies she has told.
"You are a charlatan, and you cannot help but lie as easy as it is for you to breathe," he told her.
9NEWS legal expert Scott Robinson noted there is no minimum mandatory sentence in Peters' case. While some of the felony charges she's been convicted of carry the potential for her to serve more than a decade in prison, the judge could also impose a far more lenient sentence.
The judge could have sentenced her to probation.
"Prison is where we send people who are a danger to all of us, whether it be by the pen or the sword or the word of the mouth," Barrett told Peters before sentencing her to nine years behind bars.
Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, released the following statement on Peters' sentencing:
"Since it first came to light that Tina Peters violated her oath of office, broke the law and destroyed the trust her community placed in her, clerks across Colorado and election workers across the country have been made to answer for her crimes. Today, our justice system spoke and now Tina will finally suffer the consequences of her actions. For those of us who believe that free, fair, secure and accurate elections are the foundation of our democracy -- and work every day to make our elections live up to that high standard -- today is a good day. Now the hard work of rebuilding trust begins."
In a statement released after Peters' sentencing, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said, "Today’s sentencing is a warning to others that they will face consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems."
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold responded to the sentencing, saying, “Tina Peters has been sentenced to nine years of incarceration for her dangerous attempts to break into her own election equipment to prove Trump’s 'Big Lie.' We will not allow anyone to threaten our elections."
The Secretary of State's Office said Peters’ actions cost Mesa County nearly one million dollars in replacement equipment.