Former Colorado official sentenced to prison in election data scheme

Tina Peters, a former county election official in Colorado, was sentenced Thursday to 8½ years in prison and six months in jail after being found guilty of charges connected to efforts to copy election data from her office as Donald Trump and his allies spread false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and searched for evidence to prove it.

Judge Matthew Barrett, who presided over the sentencing, also ordered Peters, the former Mesa County clerk, to pay thousands of dollars in fines.

Peters, who had asked for probation, emphasized earlier in Thursday’s sentencing that maintaining her innocence was not a form of disrespect of the law, saying, “I’m not a criminal, and I don’t deserve to go to a prison where other people committed heinous crimes.”

But in his sentencing decision, Barrett said Peters used her privilege “to obtain power, a following and fame.”

“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 a snake oil time and time again,” the judge remarked before handing down the sentence.

In August, a Colorado jury found Peters guilty on seven of 10 charges, including several counts of attempting to influence a public servant and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.

Prosecutors charged Peters in 2022 and accused her of helping to secretly copy Dominion Voting Systems hard drives by sneaking Conan Hayes, a former professional surfer and purported computer expert, into secure areas of her office in 2021 using someone else’s security badge. Within months, data from her office appeared online and was featured at a symposium held by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow chief executive who continues to trumpet false claims about elections and seeks to end the use of machines that count ballots.

Peters is one of the few officials to face consequences for using their positions in local elections offices to try to promote false claims that took root after Trump’s defeat. Election experts have cited the breach in Mesa County as a consequence of falsehoods spread about voting systems. Peters has been embraced and championed by many of those who continue to falsely claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

Peters did not stop promoting baseless information after facing charges. Ahead of her trial, she appeared on the Conservative Daily podcast and claimed without evidence that someone was able to inflate the voting rolls and cast ballots in the names of others. She blamed “the deep state” for her divorce and called for ending the use of voting machines.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Patrick Marley contributed to this report.