Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for 2020 election security breaches.

Former Arizona Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was sentenced Thursday to 8 1/2 years in prison for felonies and misdemeanors she was found guilty of this summer in connection with the 2020 election security breach.

The adjudication hearing included testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses. Peters was additionally sentenced to an additional six months in county jail.

In August, the 68-year-old was found guilty of a total of seven charges – four felonies and three misdemeanors. She was found not guilty on the remaining three charges, Colorado Public Radio reported

The sentence was imposed by Colorado District Court Judge Matthew Barrett. Peters was also assessed several financial penalties.

The verdict can be appealed.

County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein asked Barrett to sentence Peters on each count “at least one-half of the presumptive range,” but also said the maximum sentence would be appropriate “on most, if not all, counts.”

Rubinstein also asked the court to cover the costs of pursuing the case, which he said amounted to $2,409.97.

Peters, who has health problems, asked for probation.

Peters was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit a crime, breach of duty and failure to comply with the orders of the Secretary of State, official misconduct in the first degree and three counts of attempting to influence a public servant.

Prosecutors successfully argued that she took a security badge without the owner’s position to give to Conan Hayes, who was associated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to gain access to the Mesa County election system.

According to The Associated Press, lawyers argued that Peters was trying to become famous and a “hero” because she was “focused” on voting problems.

Peters’ lawyers argued that their client was trying to preserve voting records.

She admitted that in May 2021, prior to a software update, she used a county employee’s identity to allow Hayes to copy the hard drive of a ballot marking machine and to observe the update. The defense argued that Peters did this because the county would not allow her to have the county technology expert observe the software update.

Peters and her legal team claimed that election information was removed from election equipment after a software update.