Colorado Judge Targeted By Threats After Sentencing Election-Denying Former Official For Vote System Breach

A Colorado judge was the target of threats after sentencing a magnetic-mattress-loving former county official to nine years behind bars for giving a fellow 2020 election denier access to the local voting system.

Security was beefed up Friday at the Mesa County Justice Center in Grand Junction over the threats directed at Judge Matthew Barrett and courthouse staffers, the Associated Press reported.

A spokesperson for the county sheriff said the threats were being investigated, but declined to detail them or the added security measures, AP said.

Barrett on Thursday sentenced former Republican Mesa County clerk Tina Peters for her August conviction on charges including attempting to influence a public servant and official misconduct for her role in a May 2021 data breach involving the county's election system.

Prosecutors said Peters, 68, let a man associated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — an outspoken proponent of the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump — pose as a county worker to copy the system's hard drive before and after a software update.

County officials had to spend nearly $1 million to replace the compromised equipment, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said.

During a rambling, 40-minute statement before her sentencing, Peters claimed she was a "child of God" who didn't deserve prison time.

Peters also said she would be denied a magnetic mattress in prison that she has been using since 1995 to treat various ailments.

But Barrett blasted Peters as a "charlatan" who "used your position to peddle snake oil," according to the Colorado Sun.

"Your lies are well-documented and these convictions are serious," he said. "I am convinced you would do it all over again. You are as defiant a defendant as this court has ever seen."