Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison for a 2021 security breach of election voting machines. Like clockwork, the left is celebrating the harsh punishment, but where are their cries for justice when violent criminals go free?
Before being taken to the Colorado Department of Corrections to serve her nine-year jail sentence, Peters will spend the next six weeks to six months in the Mesa County Detention Facility as ordered by 21st Judicial District Judge Matthew Barrett. Peters could have (and should have) received probation for the offense, but at her sentencing, Barrett said the choice to max out her penalty was to make an example out of her.
Colorado Judge Matthew Barrett, appointed by Democrats, just sentenced 69-year-old Republican Tina Peters to nine years in prison.
Tina has no prior criminal record, who was found guilty of “attempting to influence a public servant in violation of duty” — which was a result of… pic.twitter.com/aZYnpCsnnP
— John Strand (@JohnStrandUSA) October 3, 2024
“In arguing why I should impose a particular sentence, she tells me about her ailments, her loss, her struggles in life, but in reality, for those of you who may have been here earlier this morning and seen some of the folks who occupied that chair before Ms. Peters, there could not be much in the way of comparison in terms of the type of sympathy one would extend to Ms. Peters,” Barrett said.
He argued that because she had a team of lawyers and help from around the country, her “privilege” didn’t compare to the possible suffering that others had faced.
“The people who sit in that chair suffer, generally speaking, immeasurable trauma in life, struggle mightily with alcohol abuse, substance abuse, mental health struggles, family loss. They come from broken homes. The cards they were dealt were never the cards you were dealt, Ms. Peters,” Barret said.
“I am convinced you would do it all over again if you could. You’re as defiant and as a defendant as this Court has ever seen. You don’t have those histories of drug and alcohol abuse. There’s no lifetime of trauma, not even close to the type of mitigating circumstances I would see from many folks who sit in that chair. No, to the contrary, Ms. Peters, you are a privileged person. You are as privileged as they come,” he continued.
Colorado Judge Matthew Barrett just sentenced Tina Peters to nine years in prison.
Nine years.
Tina Peters is a 69-year-old woman, with no prior criminal record, who was found guilty of “attempting to influence a public servant in violation of duty” among other election-related… pic.twitter.com/r1uSSPshRP
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) October 3, 2024
He discounted her husband’s recent passing and even invoked the death of her Navy Seal son, who died in the line of duty, to attack her as if to insinuate that her act of copying data from a voting machine meant she did not honor an oath to the country.
Barrett sentenced her to nine years in jail for her offense and called her a danger to her community and this country. He admitted that while she didn’t commit a violent crime, “prison is the only place” for her.
According to the latest crime data available, Colorado’s violent crime rates are experiencing a historic rise and are above the national average. “Violent crimes in Colorado have steadily increased over the past 10 years (2013-2022), with a 14% increase from 2020 to 2021,” the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice reported in May. “Colorado’s rate (401.5) surpassed the national rate (383.4) in 2018 and continued to increase, with 2022 having the highest rate in the past decade (492.5).”
Colorado:
❌ 3rd most dangerous state in the nation
❌ 1st in the nation for cocaine use
❌ 10th worst state for human traffickingIt’s time for citizens to pass ballot measures to make our state safer since the politicians won’t do it. #copolitics
— Kristi Burton Brown (@KBBColorado) October 4, 2024
However, none of this matters to the Court, which is apparently hellbent on putting grandmas away for questioning the security of voting machines. Barrett threw the book at Peters for a non-violent crime because of her “privilege” of never being an alcoholic or drug-addicted criminal.
Whether you agree with Peters’ actions or not, this is a miscarriage of justice. Peters is 69 years old, a grandmother, a widow, and a Gold Star mom. She didn’t murder anyone. She didn’t break into anyone’s home and strip them of their sense of safety. She didn’t sexually assault anyone. She was punished too harshly.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
