County Judge Bruce Raaum sentenced Tina Peters to 120 hours of community service and four months of house arrest with an ankle monitor for trying to prevent authorities from seizing an iPad she allegedly used to record video of court hearings. However, the sentence was immediately put on hold while Peters appealed, The Daily Sentinel reported.
Peters, who is a prominent national figure in the election conspiracy movement, has been jailed for six months. Peters’ attorney, Harvey Steinberg, argued that he should not go to jail because this is his first conviction and because he exercised his right to question the government.
District Attorney Dan Rubinstein said Peters, as an elected official, should be held to a higher standard.
Raaum agreed that a higher standard should be applied to Peters and that he has shown he has no respect for the law, but he doesn’t think he deserves any time in prison.
Last month, a jury found Peters guilty of obstructing government operations but acquitted him of obstructing a peace officer.
Peters was briefly detained on February 8, 2022, at a cafe where he was meeting with others when investigators from the district attorney’s office showed up with a warrant to seize the iPad. Peters is accused of using an iPad to record court hearings for his former subordinate, Belinda Knisely, who is also charged in the election system case.
Peters gave the iPad to another person, and the police were called. Peters got between the officer and the man to try to prevent him from taking the iPad. Peters was handcuffed and led out without warning, which was captured on police body camera video.
Peters faces seven felony charges for allegedly allowing hard drive copies to be made during the 2021 election equipment update to look for evidence of a false conspiracy theory promoted by former President Donald Trump. He has pleaded not guilty and insists the charges are politically motivated.
Knisely and another former office employee, Sandra Brown, both pleaded guilty under a deal that required them to testify against Peters. The trial is scheduled for August.