Photo: Then-Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters at her primary election watch party at the Wide Open Saloon in Sedalia on June 28, 2022. (Carl Payne for Colorado Newsline)
This story by Sharon Sullivan appeared on Colorado Newsline on October 3, 2024.
Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was taken away in handcuffs after being sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in a 2021 security breach in the elections office she was supposed to oversee.
Twice during Thursday’s sentencing hearing, 21st Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett called Peters “a charlatan” who peddled snake oil that has been disproven again and again.
Barrett cited Peters’ lack of remorse, and the fact she has “remained quite defiant” during his remarks before announcing the sentence.
And while her age, at 68 years old, and lack of criminal history was a consideration, her reputation was poor, and her lies well-documented, Barrett said. He added that he considers deterrence when deciding a sentence.
“I’m convinced you’d do it all over again if you could,” Barrett said. “You are a privileged person. You are as privileged as they come. You used that for power and fame.”
Peters is a prominent far-right conspiracy theorist who was accused of breaching Mesa County’s elections systems during a 2021 security update in an attempt to prove debunked claims of election fraud. She served one term as clerk between 2019 and 2023, and mounted an unsuccessful campaign for Colorado secretary of state in 2022, placing second in the Republican primary.
On August 12, a Mesa County jury found her guilty of 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 in elections, and one misdemeanor count of failure to comply with the secretary of state.
She was acquitted on two felony counts of criminal impersonation and one count of identity theft.
In a statement, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Peters had been held accountable for “her dangerous attempts to break into her own election equipment to prove [former President Donald] Trump’s ‘Big Lie.’”
“Colorado’s elections are the nation’s gold standard,” Griswold said. “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.”
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in a statement thanked Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, who prosecuted the case, for his “commitment to justice and his collaboration with my office to hold Tina Peters accountable.”
“We place a sacred trust in our elections officials to conduct safe, honest, and fair elections,” Weiser said. “Tina Peters violated her duty as an election official and seriously compromised trust with her fellow Coloradans. Today, the court handed down a fair and just sentence for her criminal acts, which put the safety of our elections — and the freedom and safety of others — at risk.”