Judge Calls Ex-GOP Colorado County Clerk Tina Peters ‘A Charlatan,’ Sentences Her To Nine Years In Prison In 2020 Election Scheme

Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison for a data-breach scheme prompted by widespread claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race.

In March 2022, a grand jury indicted Peters for participating in an effort to breach election security in connection with the 2020 election.

The charges against her included seven felony and three misdemeanor counts for her involvement in a “deceptive scheme which was designed to influence public servants, breach security protocols, exceed permissible access to voting equipment, and set in motion the eventual distribution of confidential information to unauthorized people.”

She was accused of aiding an unauthorized person in copying sensitive information from voting machines. The information, along with passwords, had been leaked online. 

State election officials managed to put together the pieces since passwords were unique to specific Colorado counties.

The former Colorado county clerk was issued an arrest warrant in July 2022 and received another warrant one month later.

Jurors found her guilty in August of allowing a man to misuse a security card to access the Mesa County election system and of lying about that person’s identity.

On October 3, District Judge Matthew Barrett told Peters—after earlier arguing with her for continuing to promote discredited claims about rigged voting machines—that she had never taken her job seriously.

“I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could,” Barrett said to her, handing down the sentence. “You’re as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen. You are no hero. You abused your position, and you’re a charlatan.”

At trial, prosecutors said that Peters was seeking fame and became “fixated” on voting problems after becoming involved with people who questioned the accuracy of the presidential election results. 

Peters expressed no regrets about her actions. Before being sentenced, she claimed that everything she did to attempt to erase what she believed was fraud was for the greater good.

“I’ve never done anything with malice to break the law,’ she declared to the court. “I’ve only wanted to serve the people of Mesa County.”

Later, the judge pointed out that Peters continued to make public appearances on broadcasts to sympathetic audiences for her own benefit.

“It’s just more lies,” he stated. “No objective person believes them. No, you cared about the jets, the podcasts and people fawning over you.”

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He noted that Peters was allowed to be defiant, but it was “certainly not helpful for her lot today.”

County Commissioner Cody Davis estimated during the sentencing hearing that Peters’ actions cost the local government $1.4 million in legal fees and lost employee time in Mesa County.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold issued a statement in response to Peters’ sentencing.

“Colorado’s elections are the nation’s gold standard,” Griswold declared. “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.”