Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters is scheduled for release from prison in February 2033, after serving 8.25 years for four felonies and several months in county jail for three misdemeanors — stemming from an election security breach and identity theft scheme meant to prove the 2020 election was stolen.

Now, Gov. Jared Polis seems primed to grant Peters clemency for an early release.

“She got a sentence that was harsh. It was a nine-year sentence,” Polis told CBS Colorado.

Let’s be clear: Peters could have received 19 years, but she got less than nine. She’s already scheduled for parole at the end of 2028, before completing half her sentence.

Polis went on to talk about Peters ’age — she’s 70 — and “how much of a threat to society” prisoners pose in their 70s and 80s. But he can’t hide a Peters clemency behind other elderly prisoners. This is political. Everyone knows it.

Prison time isn’t just about whether someone poses a threat. It’s about punishment and sending a message that damaging behavior has consequences. Peters did this as an elected official in her mid-60s. Age didn’t stop her then. Why would it now, given her connections and folk-hero status?

If Polis lets Peters out soon — after a little over a year behind bars, all because she pulled political strings other inmates can’t — what message will that send? What kind of justice is that?

As the Colorado County Clerks Association, which includes 41 Republican clerks, wrote to Polis: “To remove Ms. Peters… would send a deeply damaging message to the clerks who upheld their oath under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. It would imply that accountability… can be negotiated or avoided, while those who acted honorably were left to face the consequences alone.”

With Polis, it’s all about whose strings you can pull. When he commuted the sentence of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos — the illegal immigrant truck driver who killed four people on I-70 in 2019 — from 110 years to 10, it came after a pressure campaign led by Kim Kardashian, over the DA’s objections.

This time, it’s President Trump leveling pressure — despite objections from Republican District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, who was reelected alongside Trump after prosecuting Peters, a fellow Republican convicted by a jury in a deeply Republican county.

When Trump issued Peters a symbolic pardon last month, Polis seemed boxed in. He had to stand up for Colorado. Didn’t he?

Arguably, Trump’s pardon postponed Polis ’inevitable grant of clemency. Now, after weeks of apparent retaliation against Colorado, it seems Polis may yet again cave to political pressure.

Meanwhile, oral argument is set this Wednesday in Peters ’federal appeal. At minimum, Polis should wait until the court rules.

The facts are damning: Peters shut off surveillance cameras, obtained credentials under false pretenses, and gave them to a hacker to copy and leak sensitive election data — committing felonies to “prove” election fraud that she could have legally verified by simply recounting the paper ballots already in her possession.

Her victims include the man whose identity was used, the people of Mesa County and election officials she made into targets of conspiracy theorists.

If Polis still wants to grant clemency despite all this, he should consider his own record. In every clemency letter I’ve reviewed — dozens — Polis always mentions the inmate showing remorse or taking responsibility. “You have taken accountability.” “You are remorseful.”

Even in commuting Aguilera-Mederos ’sentence — often cited by Peters supporters — Polis wrote that he was “encouraged by your personal reflection,” telling Aguilera-Mederos he’d “begun the process of taking accountability and recognizing the mistakes that led to this tragic event.”

Peters hasn’t even begun that process, let alone shown any remorse. Quite the opposite.

When Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced Peters in October 2024, he minced no words: “You are as privileged as they come,” he told her, noting she had four lawyers, assistants and private jet rides — unlike defendants from broken homes battling addiction who usually occupy the defendant’s chair. He called her “as defiant a defendant as this court has ever seen,” predicting she’d do it again.

Peters even argued with Barrett during her sentencing. Fifteen months later, that defiance continues.

Granting Tina Peters clemency would undo Polis ’prerequisite for remorse and responsibility. Why give her a pass on the most basic standard he’s demanded of everybody else?

Let’s be honest: This clemency is about politics, not justice. Peters gets out early. Trump claims victory. Polis plays Mr. Reasonable and waits for the noise to settle. The politicians win — even as accountability loses.

If Polis insists on clemency, he owes Coloradans a responsible version that respects justice.

Peters is eligible for parole on Dec. 20, 2028 — far earlier than her mandatory release date of Feb. 5, 2033. Assuming good behavior, she’ll likely be out by then anyway. That gives Polis a clean, defensible option: Set her mandatory release date on Dec. 20, 2028 — the same day she’s eligible for parole. If he feels compelled to modify parole, he could move eligibility up slightly to January or February 2028, but it isn’t required. Peters stays behind bars but gets a hard end date on a sentence that will likely conclude there already.

Serve your time. Pay your debt. Then you’re out.

Tina Peters broke the law. She deserves meaningful prison time — not to skate after barely a year because her allies are loud and well-connected.

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.