Tina Peters, a former clerk in Colorado and a supporter of Donald Trump, was sentenced to nine years in prison this week due to her involvement in a voting system data breach.
Peters, 68, was convicted in August on seven of ten charges linked to a 2021 breach of Colorado’s election infrastructure. Her convictions include three counts of attempting to influence a public official, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, official misconduct, and more, while she was acquitted of three other charges, including conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.
The eight-day trial, which kicked off with jury selection on July 30 in Mesa County—an area where Trump won nearly 63% of the vote in 2020—focused on events from May 2021. During that time, Peters was accused of enabling unauthorized access to election security equipment.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File/AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File
This case marked Peters as the first election official charged in a security breach tied to unfounded conspiracy theories claiming widespread voter fraud affected the 2020 election results. Specifically, she was found guilty of misusing a security card that granted an associate of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell access to county election systems. Peters also misled other officials about the identity of that individual.
Lindell is well-known for promoting false narratives about voting machines allegedly being manipulated to sway the election result.
During the trial, prosecutors suggested that Peters, a Republican, was seeking attention and became overly fixated on alleged voting irregularities after connecting with those questioning the 2020 election’s legitimacy.
Meanwhile, her defense suggested she was merely doing her job as the county clerk, claiming she was trying to safeguard election data before a system update. This argument, however, did not sway the jury.
Despite her conviction, Peters remained defiant. After the trial, she took to social media to accuse Dominion Voting Systems and state election officials’ lawyers of vote theft, stating, “I will continue to fight until the Truth is revealed” and expressed her belief that they would ultimately prevail.
This article is based on reporting from The Associated Press.