Ex-Colorado county clerk gets 9-year prison sentence for voting data scheme in wake of 2020 election
Judge deems Tina Peters 'defiant' and 'a charlatan' at sentencing
A U.S. judge ripped into a former county clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her Thursday to nine years behind bars for a data-breach scheme spawned from the rampant false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential race.
District Judge Matthew Barrett told former Mesa county clerk Tina Peters — after earlier sparring with her for continuing to press discredited claims about rigged voting machines — that she never took her job seriously.
"I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You're as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen," Barrett told her in handing down the sentence. "You are no hero. You abused your position and you're a charlatan."
Jurors found Peters guilty in August for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person's identity.
The man was affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from then-incumbent president Donald Trump. The discredited claims trace back to Trump himself, whose supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol because of them, and who is still hinting at those claims in his current third run for president.
Peters sought fame: prosecutors
At trial, prosecutors said Peters, a Republican, was seeking fame and became "fixated" on voting problems after becoming involved with those who had questioned the accuracy of the presidential election results.
A one-time hero to election deniers, Peters has been unapologetic about what happened.
Before being sentenced, Peters insisted that everything she did to try to unroot what she believed was fraud was for the greater good.
"I've never done anything with malice to break the law. I've only wanted to serve the people of Mesa County," she told the court.
When Peters tried to press on with claims no legal authority has corroborated about "wireless devices" and software that changed ballot images in voting machines she drew the judge's exasperation. Ballot recounts showed no discrepancies, he pointed out.
"I've let you go on enough about this," Barrett said. "The votes are the votes."
'It's just more lies'
Later, the judge noted that Peters has kept up public appearances in broadcasts to sympathetic audiences for her own benefit.
"It's just more lies. No objective person believes them. No, at the end of the day, you cared about the jets, the podcasts and people fawning over you," Barrett said.
Peters had the right to be defiant, he noted, but it was "certainly not helpful for her lot today."
The breach led by Peters heightened concerns that rogue election workers sympathetic to partisan lies could use their access and knowledge to attack voting processes from within.
It's impossible to overestimate the damage Peters has done to other election workers in Colorado and elsewhere, Colorado County Clerks Association director Matt Crane told the court.
"In a real and specific way, her actions have led directly to death threats and general threats to the lives and the families of the people who work in our elections," Crane said.
"She has willingly aided individuals in our country who believe that violence is a way to make a point. She has knowingly fuelled a fire within others who choose threats as a means to get their way."
He, his wife and his children have been among those threatened, Crane said.
In Mesa County — a scenic, mostly rural area on the Colorado western slope known for its peaches, vineyards and mountain biking as well as oil and gas drilling — Peters's actions have cost the local government some $1.4 million US in legal fees and lost employee time, County Commissioner Cody Davis said at the sentencing hearing.
Peters's notoriety has also incurred other "unseen costs" for the area, Davis told the court.
"We have a lot of pride in this community but our reputation has taken a hit," Davis said. "Her behaviour has made this county a national laughingstock."
Peters was convicted of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state.
She was found not guilty of identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and one count of criminal impersonation.
Yet she persisted on social media to accuse Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, which made her county's election system, and others of stealing votes.
The 'gold standard'
Colorado won't allow anyone to threaten its elections, Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement in response to Peters's sentencing.
"Colorado's elections are the nation's gold standard. I am proud of how we have responded to the first insider elections breach in the nation and look forward to another secure and successful election in November," Griswold said.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in a statement called the sentence "fair and just." He also said her conviction served as a warning that tampering with voting processes will bring consequences.
Dominion, founded in Canada, has launched a number of defamation suits in the wake of the 2020 election claims, as has a rival, Smartmatic.
Smartmatic has recently reached undisclosed settlements before trial against conservative news outlets Newsmax and One America News Network, for airing accusations about vote manipulation in the 2020 election made by allies of Trump.
Dominion reached a $787-million US settlement last year in a similar lawsuit with Fox News.
With files from CBC News