A judge criticized a Colorado law clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her Thursday to nine years in prison over a data breach stemming from rampant false claims of voting machine fraud during the 2020 presidential race.

District Judge Matthew Barrett told former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters — after previously speaking to her for continuing to make discredited claims about rigged voting machines — that she never took her job seriously.

“I’m convinced you would do it again if you could. You are as defiant as any defendant this court has ever seen,” Barrett told her as she handed down the sentence. “You’re not a hero. You have abused your position and you are a charlatan.’

Jurors found Peters guilty in August for allowing a man to misuse a security card to access Mesa County’s election system and for being misleading about that person’s identity.

The man was associated with My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from former President Donald Trump. The discredited claims trace back to Trump himself, whose supporters attacked the US Capitol because of them and who still points out in his third attempt to become president.

During the trial, prosecutors said Peters, a Republican, sought fame and became “fixated” on voting issues after becoming involved with those who had questioned the accuracy of the presidential election results.

Peters, once a hero among election deniers, has not apologized for what happened.

Before she was sentenced, Peters insisted that everything she did to try to root out fraud was for the greater good.

“I never did anything malicious to break the law. I just wanted to serve the people of Mesa County,” she told the court.

However, when Peters continued with claims that no legal authority has confirmed about “wireless devices” and fraud software in voting machines, she angered the judge. The recounts of the ballots showed no discrepancies, he emphasized.

“I’ve told you enough about this,” Judge Barrett said. “The votes are the votes.”

The judge later noted that Peters has made public appearances in broadcasts for sympathetic audiences for her own benefit.

“It’s just more lies. No objective person believes them. No, at the end of the day you cared about the planes, the podcasts and the people who flew with you,” Barrett said.

Peters had a right to be defiant, he noted, but it was “certainly not helpful to her fate today.”

The Peters-led breach raised concerns that rogue election workers sympathetic to partisan lies could use their access and knowledge to attack voting processes from within.

In Mesa County — a scenic, largely rural area on the Colorado Western Slope known for its peaches, vineyards, mountain biking and oil and gas drilling — Peters’ actions have cost the local government $1.4 million in legal fees and time employees lost. County Commissioner Cody Davis made an estimate during the sentencing hearing.

Peters’ fame has also brought “unprecedented costs” to the area, Davis told the court.

“We are very proud of this community, but our reputation has taken a hit,” Davis said. “Her behavior has turned this province into a national laughing stock.”

Peters was convicted of three counts of attempting to influence a public official, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, official misconduct in the first degree, dereliction of duty and failure to comply with the Secretary of State.

She was found not guilty of identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and one count of criminal impersonation. Yet she continued to take to social media to blast Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, accusing her county’s election system and others of stealing votes.

Colorado will not allow anyone to threaten the election, Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement in response to Peters’ conviction.

“Colorado elections are the nation’s gold standard. I am proud of the way we responded to the nation’s first insider election violation and look forward to another safe and successful election in November,” Griswold said.

Attorney General Phil Weiser called the verdict “fair and just” in a statement.