Woman, 61, a Jan. 6 attendee, sentenced to prison for voter fraud - The Morning Sun

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Trinity Audioplayer ready...A Colorado woman was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday for voter fraud after submitting fraudulent ballots in the 2022 election.

Elizabeth Ann Davis, 61, of Castle Rock, was found guilty of two counts of forgery and one count of “personating an elector” by a jury in October.

The forgery charges are felonies and the elector charge is a misdemeanor.

Judge Ryan J. Stuart sentenced Davis to three years in the Department of Corrections for each felony charge, to be served concurrently, and 364 days for the misdemeanor charge. All three sentences will be served concurrently in the Department of Corrections. She will serve two years of mandatory parole after completing her prison sentence.

She gets six days of credit for time already served, Stuart said.

Davis submitted ballots as her son and her dead ex-husband in the 2022 election, according to the 23rd Judicial District.

“Collectively, this shows an intent to influence an election far beyond the one vote in which she was entitled,” Deputy District Attorney David Bosner told the judge during a hearing Monday.

The attorney argued that Stuart should sentence Davis to the maximum sentence of three years, given the national debate regarding election integrity in recent years. Such a sentence, Bosner said, shows “that our elections can be trusted.”

Davis was at the Jan. 6, 2021, riots on the U.S. Capitol, Bosner said, noting the “irony” that she was involved with an insurrection based on the belief that “elections were not safe.”

Davis, when she addressed the judge, said she went to Washington, D.C., five years ago “for a rally.”

“I never was at the Capitol,” she said.

Davis has nine previous felony convictions as well as two misdemeanors, related to theft, welfare fraud, forgery, possession of cocaine, prostitution and other charges, Bosner said.

Davis was also arrested and charged — and has since pleaded guilty — with driving under the influence just two weeks after the jury delivered its guilty verdict in October, he said.

Additionally, she was on probation for drug charges in Gilpin County when she was charged with submitting the fraudulent ballots.

Davis’s attorney, Emily Valdez, asked the judge for a short sentence or probation.

Davis, who has struggled with alcohol addiction, became sober 20 years ago, but relapsed after her ex-husband died from a fentanyl overdose, Valdez said.

Davis believes her ex-husband was murdered, although a coroner ruled his death an overdose, the attorney said.

“It was overwhelming for her to handle this loss and this grief,” Valdez said. “Unfortunately, it led to a relapse.”

She said her client has been approved by Valley Hope’s Parker facility to receive help for substance abuse and grief via their inpatient program.

“She wants to be a good role model for her daughter and it’s hard when these things happen and she genuinely does not remember submitting those ballots,” Valdez told the judge.

Stuart, the judge, questioned whether Davis can be rehabilitated.

“You are not honest,” he told her before announcing the sentencing. “You have been committing fraud and forgery for the last 10 years. I can’t believe anything that you say, including your statements that you want to be rehabilitated.”