Tina Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison on Thursday.
The former county clerk from Colorado believed that the 2020 election had been stolen from Donald Trump. In 2022, she allowed a man associated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to access the Mesa County elections systems. For that breach, she was found guilty on three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and one count of violation of duty, among other charges.
"I was just trying to do my job," Peters told District Judge Matthew Barrett during her sentencing hearing, adding that she was "appalled" by characterizations of her around the trial.
"I've often said God doesn't like people messing with his kids. And I believe I'm a child of God," Peters said. "It was important for someone to stand up and I've chosen to do that."
Peters went on to request that she not be sentenced to prison time, as lingering injuries require her to sleep on a "magnetic mattress." Judge Barrett was not swayed, ultimately sentencing her to eight-and-a-half years plus time served. Before sharing her sentence, the judge noted that Peters very clearly still believes she was correct in letting pro-Trump allies access the voting machines in her care.
"You're as defiant as a defendant that this court has ever seen," he said.
Earlier in the hearing, Judge Barrett angrily refused to follow along with Peters' conspiratorial beliefs.
"Whatever [the machine] tabulates, is whatever it tabulates," he said, pushing back on the idea that he agreed with the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. "It's insulting to me for to put that into a record that I believe something to be true."
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