A judge assailed a Colorado county clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her to nine years behind bars for a data-breach scheme involving rampant false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race. Judge Matthew Barrett told former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — after sparring with her for continuing to press discredited claims about rigged voting machines — that she never took her job seriously. “I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You’re as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen,” Barrett said. “You are no hero. You abused your position and you’re a charlatan.” Jurors convicted Peters in August for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access the Mesa County election system and for being deceptive about that person’s identity, the Associated Press reports.
The man was affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell, a promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from former President Trump. Prosecutors said Peters, a Republican, was seeking fame and became “fixated” on voting problems after becoming involved with those who had questioned the accuracy of the presidential election results. Before being sentenced, Peters insisted that everything she did to try to unroot what she believed was fraud was for the greater good. “I’ve never done anything with malice to break the law. I’ve only wanted to serve the people of Mesa County,” she told the judge. When Peters repeated claims no authority has corroborated about “wireless devices” and fraud software in voting machines, she drew the judge’s exasperation. Ballot recounts showed no discrepancies, he pointed out. “I’ve let you go on enough about this,” Barrett said. “The votes are the votes.”
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