Overview
- Chief Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak ruled he lacks authority to release the former Mesa County clerk while her state appeal is pending.
- Varholak noted that Peters raises significant questions about whether her sentence was influenced by protected speech, which the Colorado Court of Appeals is reviewing.
- Peters remains in a southern Colorado state prison serving a nine-year sentence imposed after her 2024 conviction for election-related offenses.
- Two weeks earlier, Colorado’s Department of Corrections rejected a Federal Bureau of Prisons request to transfer Peters to federal custody, citing state procedures.
- President Donald Trump and a senior Justice Department official have publicly pressed for her release, and Trump criticized Gov. Jared Polis after the transfer denial.