Republican activist becomes first person convicted in Arizona fake electors case

A Republican activist who signed a document falsely claiming former President Donald Trump had won Arizona in the 2020 election became the first person to be convicted in the state’s fake elector case.

Loraine Pellegrino, a former president of the group Ahwatukee Republican Women, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false document, Arizona Attorney General’s Office spokesperson Richie Taylor said Tuesday, declining to comment further. Records documenting her guilty plea have not 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 “duly elected and qualified” electors and claimed Trump had carried Arizona in the 2020 election. President Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes. Joshua Kolsrud, an attorney representing Pellegrino, said in a statement that his client has accepted responsibility for her actions. 

“Loraine Pellegrino’s decision to accept a plea to a lesser charge reflects her desire to move forward and put this matter behind her,” Kolsrud said.

On Monday, former Trump’s campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, who worked closely with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, entered a cooperation agreement with prosecutors who have asked for her charges to be dismissed. The remaining defendants, including Giuliani and Trump presidential chief of staff Mark Meadows, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges.

Pellegrino and 10 other people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors had met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign the false document. A one-minute video 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. Lawmakers went on to certify Mr. Biden’s win over Trump during a proceeding that began on Jan. 6, 2021, and was delayed after a mob of the former president’s supporters breached the U.S. Capitol.

Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme. Ellis, who was also charged in Georgia, pleaded guilty to a single felony charge of aiding and abetting false statements and writing.

Arizona authorities unveiled the felony charges 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. He is facing state charges in Georgia and federal charges in Washington, D.C., stemming from an alleged scheme to subvert the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election. The former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Melissa Quinn

contributed to this report.