PHOENIX (AP) 鈥� A Republican activist who signed a document falsely claiming Donald Trump had won Arizona in 2020 became the first person to be convicted in the state鈥檚 fake elector case.
Loraine Pellegrino, a past president of the group Ahwatukee Republican Women, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false document, Arizona Attorney General鈥檚 Office spokesperson Richie Taylor said Tuesday, declining to comment further. Records documenting her guilty plea haven鈥檛 yet been posted by the court. Still, court records show Pellegrino was sentenced to unsupervised probation. Before the plea, she faced nine felony charges.
Seventeen other people had been charged in the case, including 10 other Republicans who had signed a certificate saying they were 鈥渄uly elected and qualified鈥� electors and claimed Trump had carried Arizona in the 2020 election. President Joe Biden by 10,457 votes. Joshua Kolsrud, an attorney representing Pellegrino, said in a statement that his client has accepted responsibility for her actions. 鈥淟oraine Pellegrino鈥檚 decision to accept a plea to a lesser charge reflects her desire to move forward and put this matter behind her,鈥� Kolsrud said.
On Monday, former Trump鈥檚 campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, entered a with prosecutors who have asked for her charges to be dismissed. The remaining defendants, including and Trump presidential chief of staff , have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.
Pellegrino and 10 other people who had been nominated to be Arizona鈥檚 Republican electors had met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign the false document. of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.
, , and have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.
Arizona authorities in late April. Overall, charges were brought against 11 Republicans who submitted the document falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona, five lawyers connected to the former president and two former Trump aides.
Trump himself was not charged in the Arizona case but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictment.
Jacques Billeaud, The Associated Press
