Colorado election clerk convicted in voting machine security breach case

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was found guilty Monday evening by a jury in connection to an election security breach at her office in 2021, the Colorado attorney general said.

Peters, 68, was convicted Monday on seven of 10 counts she was charged with in connection to the breach of her office that saw an unauthorized person make copies of voting machine hard drives that included classified information that were then leaked online by conspiracy theorists who falsely said it proved Donald Trump 's Big Lie that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.

The jury found her guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public official and one count each of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with secretary of state requirements, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement . She was acquitted on one count each of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation and identity theft.

Weiser said the U.S. public places a "sacred trust" in its election officials to conduct safe, honest and fair elections -- a trust that Peters violated.

"Today, she was held accountable for her criminal acts, which put the safety of our elections -- and the freedom and safety of others -- at risk," Weiser said.

The jury deliberated for roughly fours before Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett read the verdict at about 5:15 p.m. Monday, The Colorado Sun reported.

Prosecutors had accused Peters of stealing the identification of a county employee, Gerald Wood, that she allowed a second person, Conan Hayes, to use to gain access to the voting machines and copy their hard drives during and after a scheduled update on May 25, 2021.

"The defendant was a fox guarding the henhouse," prosecutor Janet Drake said during closing arguments, CNN reported. "It was her job to protect the election equipment and she turned on it and used her power for her own advantage."

Peters is to be sentenced Oct. 3 when she faces upwards of more than two decades behind bars.

"Tina Peters willfully compromised her own election equipment trying to prove Trump's Big Lie," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement Monday.

"Today's verdict sends a clear message: we will not tolerate any effort to threaten the security of our gold standard elections."