Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado and an ally of President Trump in controversies surrounding the 2020 election, was released on June 1 after Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a commutation order.
The information was confirmed by the Colorado Department of Corrections. Peters, 70, had served less than a quarter of her 9-year prison sentence.
Peters became the first local election official to face criminal charges related to allegations of election system security breaches following the 2020 presidential election.
According to court records, she allowed an outside computer expert to access Mesa County's election server system during a 2021 update. This individual was connected to Mike Lindell, a businessman who has repeatedly rejected the 2020 election results.
Subsequently, images and data related to the voting system, including passwords, appeared online and fueled election fraud allegations.
In 2024, a jury in Mesa County convicted Peters on multiple charges, including criminal impersonation, attempting to influence a public servant, and official misconduct.
The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the conviction in April but ordered a reconsideration of the sentence, stating that the trial judge had improperly considered some of Peters' public statements related to election fraud.
Since Peters was convicted under state law, President Trump did not have direct pardon power. However, he had repeatedly publicly pressured Governor Polis to commute her sentence.
According to U.S. media, President Trump had previously criticized Polis on social media and excluded him from a White House meeting with other governors.
The Trump administration also previously announced plans to restructure some federal research facilities in Colorado and move the U.S. Space Command to Alabama.
In his letter announcing the commutation on May 15, Governor Polis stated that although Peters committed serious offenses and deserved imprisonment, a 9-year sentence for a first-time, non-violent offender was "unusual and disproportionate."
Meanwhile, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold warned that Peters' release
