Updated Thursday night with statement from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
Transcript of Judge Matthew Barrett’s comments to former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters
Former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison on Thursday.
The sentence handed down by Judge Matthew Barrett came after more than two hours of testimony by witnesses on both sides who talked about the effect of the trial on Mesa County, election officials all over the country, and a Mesa County man whose identity became a central issue in the case, and on Peters herself.
Barrett rejected her request to remain out of jail pending appeal.
Prior to sentencing, Barrett said Peters was a danger to the community and suggested she cares more about the publicity and adoration she gets from her followers than the truth.
“You are as privileged as they come. And you use that privilege to obtain power, a following and fame,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it exactly what you wanted.”
“There’s no good reason why you’re here other than active decisions you made,” the judge added, saying those actions cost the county money, not to mention the impact on people who did things on her behalf. The damage Peters inflicted on Mesa County is immeasurable, the judge said.
He said he would not put her on probation nor send her to community corrections.
“Prison is the only place that duly meets the purposes of sentence in this matter,” he said.
He then handed down nine years in prison and in the Mesa County Detention Center, spread out among the seven counts. She will serve her jail time first for six* months, and then head to prison for the rest of the sentence. She also will be placed on parole for three years after she serves her time.
Barrett imposed several $1,000 and $2,000 fines related to the seven counts, but reserved his most harsh comments in his judgment on why she should go to prison.
“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 pedal a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again in your world. It’s all about you,” Barrett said. “You cannot help but lie as easy it is for you to breathe.”
After a two-week trial, Peters was found guilty on Aug. 12 on seven out of 10 charges, including four felonies — three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. She was also convicted on three misdemeanors — first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with an order from the Secretary of State.
The charges are all tied to a security breach for elections equipment at the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s office in May 2021. Her assistants, Brenda Knisley and Sandra Brown, both accepted plea deals in exchange for testifying against Peters.
She was acquitted of three other charges — an additional count of criminal impersonation, a charge of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and identity theft related to Gerald Wood, who testified Thursday about the impact of the case has had on his life. She initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, describing them as politically motivated.
The people who testified on Peters’ behalf said she had been singled out in order to send a message to other election officials around the state, and that, contrary to how she’s been portrayed, Peters is a law-abiding citizen who hasn’t threatened anyone, “except perhaps some government officials who have something to hide.”
After she was found guilty, Peters said on X that she would “continue to fight until the Truth is revealed that was not allowed to be brought during this trial.”
Defense lawyer John Case earlier argued that Peters had to preserve records to access the voting system in order to find out things like whether anyone from “China or Canada” had accessed the machine while ballots were being counted.
“And thank God she did. Otherwise, we really wouldn’t know what happened,” he said.
Peters had argued elsewhere that the investigation and prosecution against her were retaliation for her exercising her constitutional rights. She previously said that a harassment campaign was being waged against her by local and state prosecutors who were “trying to punish her for exposing what she maintains are issues with Colorado’s voting system.”
In a statement following the trial’s conclusion, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Peters has been “sentenced to nine years of incarceration for her dangerous attempts to break into her own election equipment to prove Trump’s ‘Big Lie.’ We will not allow anyone to threaten our elections.”
“Colorado’s elections are the nation’s gold standard,” Griswold added. “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.”
Peters spoke about the trial and her life since being indicted in 2021.
“It is with a heavy heart that I hear the vile accusations and the anger levied against me for what I did to serve the people of Mesa County,” she said.
She said she respected the jury’s verdict, stating it was based on the evidence they were “allowed” to hear. She said she didn’t authorize the trusted build video to be made public, only that she questioned whether Dominion Voting Systems violated election laws.
She, as well as her attorney, asked for probation. She said she never lied to the judge. She never testified during the trial. She also brought up matters unrelated to the trial, such as an issue with an iPad recording from court that led to a contempt conviction and her wearing an ankle bracelet, and the death of her son, who was in the military.
She also claimed she saved Mesa County money, an issue raised by Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis, who testified that her actions resulted in the county having to replace its election system, as well as additional costs for consultants, human resources and legal costs. The total bill to the county was $1.4 million, David said.
But the biggest hit to Mesa County, Davis testified, was to its reputation. He claimed Peters’ actions made the county the “laughingstock” of the nation.
Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis, who echoed some of Davis’ testimony on damage to the county, also told the court that Peters does not accept the convictions. At one point during his testimony, Peters started laughing, and it was apparently loud enough for the judge to hear.
Wood and his wife, Wendy, testified about the impact the case has had on their lives, including embarrassment in their church and having their home raided, before it was revealed that he had no part in the case.
Matt Crane, head of the Colorado County Clerks Association, talked about how the case affected election officials both in Colorado and nationwide. Crane accused Peters of profiting off her actions. The impact included death threats that resulted in election officials quitting.
“It is not possible to overestimate the damage that Tina Peters has done,” Crane said.
Crane also pointed out that Peters never completed the training for new clerks, something that is now mandated by state law.
“I believe she did this because she simply did not understand her job,” he told the court. “Managing and running an election is complicated. The processes are specific and require great attention to detail. I can assure this court that Tina never even attempted to master any of these processes.”
Crane said Peters “left” the association’s training opportunity for new clerks early and she never completed the work to become a certified Colorado election official.
He asked the judge to impose the harshest sentence possible.
“Since it first came to light that Tina Peters violated her oath of office, broke the law and destroyed the trust her community placed in her, clerks across Colorado and election workers across the country have been made to answer for her crimes,” Crane said in a statement after the hearing. “Today, our justice system spoke and now Tina will finally suffer the consequences of her actions.”
Testifying on Peters’ behalf, her pastor, friends and Dallas Schroeder, a former clerk and recorder in Elbert County who also tangled with Griswold over claims of election tampering. He was forced to turn over the recordings he made of his county’s election equipment to the Secretary of State but didn’t face criminal charges.
Schroeder said Peters was singled out by Griswold to send a message to other county clerks around the state.
“Don’t question anything. Follow the SOS blindly” and without question, “or else be attacked publicly,” he said.
Doug Frank also testified for Peters. Frank said he’s investigated election fraud in 48 states over the last four years and that most officials panic. He characterized their reactions as “I don’t want to be Tina Petered, I have a family to feed.”
He blamed Griswold for Peters’ legal troubles. He said Peters had evidence that was concerning, and she called Frank to help, with time running out before the trusted build that he claimed would erase the evidence.
“This is not a conspiracy. It’s standard practice,” he said, adding she was not only behaving responsibly but “ahead of the curve in terms of election integrity and security.”
“Tina Peters is no conspirator. Tina Peters is a patriot. Tina Peters is law abiding. Tina Peters is not a threat to anyone except perhaps some government officials who have something to hide,” he said. “She should not have to endure one more minute of this tyranny. As Jefferson said, when the people are afraid of the government, there’s tyranny. When the government is afraid of the people, there’s liberty. I implore the court today restore Tina Peter’s God-given liberty.”
On X (Twitter), former Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson said Peters “is the most lethal combo of arrogance and self imposed ignorance. Her betrayal was one reason why I will always stand up for our democracy, against hyper partisans, and support the thousands of faithful and true local election officials across the country.”
Attorney General Phil Weiser also weighed in.
“We place a sacred trust in our elections officials to conduct safe, honest, and fair elections,” Weiser said in a statement. “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.” He also thanked Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubenstein for his commitment to justice and his collaboration with Weiser’s office. “Today’s sentencing is a warning to others that they will face consequences if they attempt to illegally tamper with our voting processes or election systems.”
According to reports, Joe Oltmann of Douglas County said there’s a “meeting this week about what we do to hold the corrupt trash judge and the treasonous traitors accountable for what they did to Tina.” Oltmann had previously called for hangings of political opponents.
Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow who hosted Peters at a cyber symposium in South Dakota that showed the information from the Mesa County voting system, criticized the sentencing.
“This is one of the biggest injustices this country has ever seen! Tina Peters is a hero and she will be vindicated! God bless Tina and my prayers are with her!” he said in a statement.
Lindell runs the Lindell Offense Fund, which has solicited donations for Peters for her legal costs.
Peters could have received as much as 20 years. She still faces three ethics complaints with the state ethics commission and is currently appealing fines on campaign finance complaints.
Editor’s note: The story has been corrected on the length of jail time Peters will serve.
The Washington Examiner contributed to this article.