GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) – A former Colorado county employee accused of illegally accessing its election system avoided prison Monday for a felony obstruction conviction in another case.
County Judge Bruce Raaum sentenced Tina Peters to 120 hours of community service and four months of home detention with an ankle monitor for trying to stop authorities from taking an iPad she allegedly used to film a court hearing. However, the sentence was immediately suspended while Peters appeals, The Daily Sentinel reported.
Peters, who has become a leading national figure in the election conspiracy movement, faces up to six months in prison. Peters’ attorney, Harvey Steinberg, argued that he should not go to prison because it was his first conviction and because he was exercising his right to question the government.
Prosecutor Dan Rubinstein said Peters, as an elected official, should be held to a higher standard.
Raaum agreed that Peters should be held to a higher standard and that he showed little respect for the law, but he didn’t think time behind bars was warranted.
Last month, a jury found Peters guilty of obstructing government operations but acquitted her of obstructing a peace officer.
Peters was briefly detained on February 8, 2022, at a bar where she was meeting with other people, when detectives from the District Attorney’s Office presented her with a warrant to seize the iPad. Peters is accused of using the iPad to record a court hearing for a former subordinate, Belinda Knisely, also accused in the Election System case.
Peters gave the iPad to another person and the police were called. Peters stepped between the officers and the man to try to prevent them from taking the iPad. Peters was handcuffed and taken outside without warning, which was caught on police body video camera.
Peters faces seven felony charges for allegedly allowing a copy of a hard drive to be created during a 2021 election equipment upgrade looking for evidence of false conspiracy theories promoted by former President Donald Trump. She has pleaded not guilty and says the charges are politically motivated.
Knisely and another former clerk’s office employee, Sandra Brown, both pleaded guilty under agreements requiring them to testify against Peters. The trial is scheduled for August.
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