Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) has indicated he may grant clemency to Tina Peters, a former election clerk in Mesa County, Colorado, who was convicted in a 2020 election interference case.
The Democratic governor made the statement Tuesday night after former Colorado state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, who was convicted on the same charge of attempting to influence a public official as Peters, received a comparably lighter sentence. Jaquez Lewis was sentenced to two years of probation, 150 hours of community service, and a $3,000 fine.
Meanwhile, Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2024.
Polis suggested the law was applied unfairly in Peters’s case and signaled his office is considering rectifying it.
“Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law,” he posted on X.
“This is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities, which is why I have extended the deadline for clemency applications until April 3rd,” the governor wrote. “I will be making decisions on these cases throughout the remainder of my governorship.”
Before leaving office at the end of his second term in January 2027, Polis may free Peters, as has been repeatedly requested by President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
Peter Ticktin, a lawyer for Peters, believes her release may come as early as this week or even sometime Wednesday.
“My understanding is that there is a 2 day delay between the commutation and the announcement and release for pragmatic purposes,” Ticktin told PBS News Hour. He noted the act of clemency in this case will be a reduced commutation, not a full pardon.
Polis has previously said Peters’s sentence was “harsh” after the issue was raised by Trump late last year and into this year.
In December, Trump announced a “full pardon” for Peters on Truth Social. However, the move was largely symbolic and proved ineffective as the former election clerk was convicted on state rather than federal charges. The president later ramped up the pressure on Polis and Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein, telling them to “rot in Hell” for incarcerating the elderly woman.
Peters allegedly tampered with voting equipment in 2020 by using another individual’s security badge to give a person affiliated with Trump ally and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell access to the Mesa County election system. Republicans argued she was unfairly imprisoned.
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It remains to be seen if Polis grants the defendant a commutation soon.
Peters and Lewis both faced four felony charges, including one count of attempting to influence a public servant. The other three charges on which Peters was convicted were misdemeanor counts.