{"id":219,"date":"2026-05-15T22:02:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T22:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=219"},"modified":"2026-05-15T22:02:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T22:02:46","slug":"colorado-governor-cuts-tina-peters-prison-sentence-in-half-will-release-her-on-parole-june-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradorelocationreport.com\/?p=219","title":{"rendered":"Colorado governor cuts Tina Peters\u2019 prison sentence in half, will release her on parole June 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday cut former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters\u2019 nine-year prison sentence in half, and ordered the 70-year-old, who has become a national martyr for election conspiracy theorists, to be released on parole June 1.<\/p>\n

Read more Gov. Jared Polis commutes sentences of 9 people, including some sentenced to life without parole<\/a><\/p>\n

Peters\u2019 sentence for orchestrating a security breach of her county\u2019s election system in 2021 in a failed attempt to uncover voter fraud is now four years and four and a half months under a clemency order issued by the governor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cShe, because of her incorrect and unpopular speech, got an unduly harsh sentence,\u201d Polis said Friday in an interview with The Colorado Sun, adding that he believes her new sentence is still \u201cvery harsh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not pardoning her,\u201d he explained. \u201cI publicly have said very early on I would not even consider a pardon. She\u2019s a convicted felon. She deserves to be a convicted felon. She will remain a convicted felon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The extraordinary, but expected, decision puts Polis at odds not only with fellow Democrats, but also with many Republicans in Colorado \u2014 including the man who prosecuted Peters and a list of conservative local elections officials outraged by Peters\u2019 behavior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis signals that it\u2019s open season on our elections and election officials,\u201d said Matt Crane, who leads the Colorado Clerks Association. Crane is a Republican and the former clerk in Arapahoe County.<\/p>\n

Peters, in a post on social media, thanked Polis and said she was sorry for the mistakes she made. But she also indicated she planned to continue talking about elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI plan to do my best through legal means to support election integrity,\u201d she said. \u201cI am grateful for a second chance and an earlier release, and I love forward to doing good in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s move \u2014\u00a0which comes as Polis and Colorado have faced mounting criticism and retaliation from President Donald Trump \u2014 also likely ends any speculation about his political future as a Democrat. By commuting Peters\u2019 sentence, Polis, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential contender, has probably neutered any chance of rising in his party\u2019s ranks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFREE TINA!\u201d Trump posted on social media Friday afternoon after the clemency news was announced.<\/p>\n

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The governor\u2019s closest advisers have privately counseled him against inserting himself in Peters\u2019 case, warning of the intense political risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Polis\u2019 decision, which came as he announced clemency for dozens of other people convicted of crimes in Colorado, will also likely cast a pall over his last six months in office and make him a pariah among fellow Democrats. He is term-limited and cannot run for reelection in 2026.<\/p>\n

The governor brushed off the political consequences of his decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI view my job as governor as one where I always try to do what\u2019s right,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, I believe people like me because I try to do what\u2019s right. I try to do what\u2019s right regardless of whether it\u2019s popular and regardless of the politics of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

By waiting until two days after Colorado\u2019s 2026 lawmaking term ended to announce the clemency decision, Polis avoided damage to his legislative agenda. Democrats at the Capitol had telegraphed that they wouldn\u2019t work with the governor if he let Peters out.<\/p>\n

But by not waiting until later in the year, his announcement interrupts the judicial process.<\/p>\n

Peters\u2019 conviction<\/h2>\n

Mesa County District Judge Matthew Barrett was preparing to resentence Peters as directed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, which found in April that the nine-year sentence he issued \u201cwas based in part on improper consideration of her exercise of her right to free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHer offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud,\u2019\u201d the appellate judges . \u201cIt was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

A date for her resentencing hasn\u2019t been set.<\/p>\n

Polis told The Sun he opted to wait until after the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled on Peters\u2019 challenge to her sentence before taking action.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had many of the same concerns that the appeals court,\u201d he said, \u201cwhich was basically that because of her unpopular and incorrect conspiracy beliefs, she was punished more harshly than usual for a crime that she committed. I\u2019m a strong supporter of free speech. I share and vehemently disagree with the way Tina Peters chooses to use her free speech. But it\u2019s a free country, she\u2019s free to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the governor did not explain Friday, when asked, why he didn\u2019t wait for Barrett to resentence her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Peters was convicted in August 2024 of three counts of attempting to influence a public official; conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation; official misconduct; violation of duty; and failure to comply with an order of the Secretary of State.<\/p>\n

A Mesa County jury acquitted Peters of three counts: conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation and identity theft.<\/p>\n

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Peters and others persuaded a Mesa County computer engineer to join her office as a part-time computer expert in the elections office. The man, Gerald Wood, went through a background check and was given a badge for access to secure elections rooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he never entered those rooms. His access pass was instead given to Conan Hayes, an election conspiracy theorist, who used Wood\u2019s identity to attend a sensitive election system software update.<\/p>\n

Photos taken during the update were then posted on the internet, a major security breach that led Mesa County to discard its voting equipment and buy new machines.<\/p>\n

The scheme was part of an effort by Peters to uncover election fraud in Mesa County and across the country following false claims by Trump that the 2020 election was stolen from him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump, who has fought for Peters\u2019 release and symbolically pardoned her, won Mesa County in 2020 by 28 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Read more Tina Peters isn\u2019t the first Colorado convict to become a central figure in a governor\u2019s race<\/a><\/p>\n

Local prosecutors investigated the election malfeasance claims made by Peters, based on the \u201cevidence\u201d collected during the Mesa County security breach, and found nothing.<\/p>\n

Swift condemnation from Democrats<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Big-name politicians in Colorado were quick to condemn Polis\u2019 decision Friday.<\/p>\n

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who was notified about the clemency action about an hour before it became public, told reporters it a \u201cdark day for democracy\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat whose office helped prosecute Peters, said it was \u201cmind-boggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judge imposed a reasonable sentence based on her criminal conduct, she has shown no remorse for her crimes, and now the governor is taking this unwise and unprecedented step of releasing her from prison early,\u201d Weiser said in a written statement. \u201cCaving to this president will only lead to more abuse from the bullying Trump administration. Today is a sad day for Colorado and the rule of law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Weiser is running to replace Polis as governor next year alongside U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, another Democrat, who said Friday that he vehemently disagrees with Polis cutting Peters\u2019 sentence short.<\/p>\n

Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib said Polis set a \u201cdangerous and disappointing precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>There are real cases that deserve the Governor\u2019s attention and action,\u201d Murib said. \u201cThis is not one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colorado County Clerks Association said it was \u201cfurious, disgusted and deeply disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than standing with those public servants and defending one of our nation\u2019s most cherished rights, the right to vote, Gov. Polis is bending the knee to the same political forces and conspiracy movements that are actively undermining confidence in our democratic institutions,\u201d the organization said. \u201cThat choice carries consequences far beyond this single case.\u201d<\/p>\n

County clerks said they felt abandoned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no escaping the significance of this moment,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThis is now Gov. Polis\u2019 legacy. He will not be able to run from it or redefine it later. When given the opportunity to stand firmly for the rule of law, for the integrity of Colorado\u2019s elections, and for the public servants who defend them, he chose a different path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Republicans celebrated Polis\u2019 move.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Windsor, called it \u201ca long-overdue step toward justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis dropped many hints<\/h2>\n

Polis began dancing around the question of whether he would offer Peters clemency at the start of the year. He suggested to some journalists that he would consider letting the former clerk out of prison early. To others, he seemed to fully reject the idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At times, it was difficult to interpret what he was thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she is very ill or has, you know, cancer, we would do something like we would for any nonviolent inmate in that situation \u2014 we consider getting them out,\u201d he told The Colorado Sun in early January. \u201cWe\u2019re always going to look at the sentence and how long and what it is. She is elderly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, in March, Polis all but said he was going to let Peters out. He went on social media to contrast Peters\u2019 sentence to the probation sentence received by former Democratic state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jaquez Lewis was sentenced to probation and community service, at the request of Denver prosecutors, after being convicted of one count of attempting to influence a public servant and three counts of forgery. The case stemmed from the Boulder County Democrat\u2019s fabrication of letters of support that she sent to the Senate Ethics Committee, which was investigating Jaquez Lewis\u2019 treatment of her Capitol aides.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not lost on me that she was convicted of the exact same felony charge as Tina Peters \u2014 attempting to influence a public official \u2014 and yet Tina Peters, as a non-violent first time offender got a nine year sentence,\u201d Polis wrote on X. \u201cJustice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that post, all 66 Democrats in the Colorado legislature sent the governor a letter urging him not to let Peters out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about the security and assuredness of our elections,\u201d the letter said. \u201cThis is about the future of our democracy, and of free and fair elections in our nation. We ask you to stand with us in safeguarding the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter said that clemency is \u201cfor those who have taken accountability for their crimes, understand the harm they have created, and made good faith efforts for restitution to victims and self-rehabilitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that the governor typically reserves his clemency powers for people who have shown remorse or rehabilitation in prison. Peters has not publicly admitted fault and has continued to fight her conviction on the grounds that she was improperly prosecuted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Polis said Peters admitted wrongdoing in her private clemency application.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made mistakes four years ago,\u201d Polis read from her application. \u201cI misled the secretary of state when allowing a person to gain access to county voting equipment. That was wrong. Going forward, I will make sure that my actions always follow the law, and I will avoid the mistakes of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the governor added that nobody gets clemency from him just because they are sorry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d he said. \u201cNinety-nine percent of prisoners would say they\u2019re sorry if it got them out. It\u2019s really about disparate sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis said he\u2019s not sure how Peters will act, or what she will say, upon her release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI will almost certainly disagree with things she says in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it is a free country, and she is absolutely as entitled to say things that she believes as you, or as me, or as any other American \u2014 as long as she follows our laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a developing story that will be updated.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Trump\u2019s actions against Colorado<\/h2>\n

President Donald Trump has loudly, publicly and repeatedly objected to the conviction and sentencing of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters for crimes related to an election system breach in 2021. For years, Trump\u2019s complaints served primarily as a rallying cry for election conspiracy theorists. But after he returned to office in 2025, Peters\u2019 conviction became one of a number of issues state officials believe was used to justify political retaliation against the state, with real impacts for Coloradans. Federal projects that had received bipartisan support have been refused funding while longtime research and employment centers have been shuttered, slashed or relocated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Does each chronically homeless person cost taxpayers $30,000 to $50,000 per year?<\/a><\/p>\n