Tina Peters, a former Colorado clerk, was found guilty of most charges by a jury in connection with a breach to the county’s computer system for elections.

Peters is accused of using a security badge belonging to someone else to grant access to an expert associated with My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell to the Mesa County voting system. The prosecution said that she was looking for fame and had become “fixated” with voting problems, after getting involved with those who questioned the accuracy in the results of the 2020 presidential elections.

This was the first time a local official had been prosecuted for a security breach in the midst of the conspiracy theories swirling around the 2020 elections. This case raised concerns about potential insider attacks, where rogue electoral workers who are sympathetic to partisan falsehoods could use their knowledge and access to launch an internal attack.

Peters was found guilty of three counts for attempting to influence public servants, one count for conspiracy to commit criminal identity theft, first degree official misconduct, breach of duty, and failure to comply with Secretary of State.

She was found innocent of identity theft and of conspiring to commit criminal impersonation.

The jury’s acquittal of the charge of identity theft suggests that they were influenced in their decision by the defense argument, which claimed Peters had used the badge with its owner’s consent.

Peters stood at the table of the defense as the jury verdict was read out in a quiet, secluded courtroom. Judge Matthew Barrett warned the people in the courtroom he wouldn’t tolerate any outbursts.

The verdict was announced just hours after prosecutors asked jurors for a conviction of Peters. They said she had deceived employees in order to work with Lindell and other outsiders who were affiliated with him. Lindell is one of the most prominent conspiracy theorists in the country.

Prosecutor Janet Drake claimed that in closing arguments at trial, the former clerk had allowed a man pretending to be a county employee take pictures of the hard drive for the election system before and after an upgrade software in May 2021.

Drake claimed Peters was the one who observed the update, so that she could be the “hero”, and appear at Lindell’s symposium about the 2020 presidential elections a few month later. Lindell is known for promoting false claims about voting machines being manipulated in order to steal Donald Trump’s election.

The defendant was like a fox protecting the henhouse. Drake, an attorney from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, said that it was her duty to protect election equipment. She turned against it and used the power she had for her personal gain.

Drake is working with the Mesa County district attorney, a county dominated by Republicans near the Utah border.

The defense informed the jury before they began their deliberations on Monday that Peters was innocent and had only wished to preserve her election records because the county refused to allow one of its tech experts to be present during the software update.

John Case, the defense lawyer, said Peters needed to keep records in order to gain access to the voting system. This was to determine whether someone from “China or Canada”, for example had accessed it while the ballots were being counted.

“And thank god she did. “We wouldn’t have known what happened if she hadn’t done it,” he added.

Peters let Conan Hayes observe the software upgrade and copy the hard drive, using the security badge from Gerald Wood, a local who Peters claimed worked for her. The prosecution claims that Peters stole Wood’s badge to hide Hayes’ identity. However, the defense argues that Wood was part of the plan and Peters didn’t commit any crime.

Wood denied this when he was questioned during the trial.

Sherronna bishop, a political activist who introduced Peters to Lindell’s employees, said that Wood was aware of his identity being used because they had a Signal conversation between Wood, her and Peters. The chat did not include any agreement.

Bishop testified in court that the day after she took the first image, she had posted a recording of her voice to the chat. The screenshots of chat presented by the defense did not include the content of this recording. Wood replied to the unknown message with “I’m glad to help.” According to screenshots, “I hope that the effort was fruitful.”

Robert Shapiro, the prosecutor, told jurors Bishop was not credible.