Colorado clerk convicted in election conspiracy theory scheme backed by Trump leaves prison
Her sentence was shortened after Trump waged a lengthy pressure campaign against the governor and his state.
Mason Reed 
Tina Peters, the former clerk convicted for her role in an election conspiracy scheme backed by President Donald Trump, walked free from prison on Monday. Her release follows a high-stakes pressure campaign by the president, who successfully pushed Colorado’s Democratic governor to commute her sentence.
A Shortened Sentence
The Colorado Department of Corrections confirmed the 70-year-old's release but declined to provide further details. Her prison stay was cut significantly short by Gov. Jared Polis last month after relentless pressure from the Trump administration. In total, Peters served less than a quarter of her original nine-year sentence.
Background on the Breach
Peters made headlines as the first local election official charged with breaching security in the wake of the 2020 election. The scheme involved smuggling an outside computer expert linked to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell—a man who consistently denied that Trump lost the White House—into the county offices to copy Dominion Voting Systems data.
Following the breach, Peters joined Lindell at a public event where confidential system files were leaked, fueling widespread false claims regarding the integrity of the election.
Legal Hurdles and Presidential Pressure
Jurors in Mesa County, a Republican stronghold, convicted Peters in 2024 of multiple crimes, including conspiracy and attempting to influence a public servant. While an appeals court upheld the conviction, it did order a resentencing due to issues with the original trial judge's rationale. Because the crimes were state-level, Trump could not issue a pardon, so he leveraged his position to pressure Gov. Polis, going as far as excluding him from a White House meeting and moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research and relocating U.S. Space Command.
In his May 15 commutation letter, Gov. Polis acknowledged the seriousness of Peters' crimes but argued the initial sentence was exceptionally harsh for a first-time, non-violent offender.
Reaction
The decision has drawn sharp criticism from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. She warned on Monday that the release risks emboldening election-denier groups, noting that Peters has continued to promote election conspiracies since her sentence was commuted.
