PHOENIX (AP) — A Republican activist who signed a document falsely claiming Donald Trump had won Arizona in 2020 became the first person to be XDY Exchangeconvicted in the state’s 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’s Office spokesperson Richie Taylor said Tuesday, declining to comment further. Records documenting her guilty plea haven’t 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 Joe 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.
Prosecutors in Michigan, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin have also filed criminal charges related to the fake electors scheme.
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.
2025-05-04 14:171596 view
2025-05-04 13:572034 view
2025-05-04 13:192441 view
2025-05-04 12:562592 view
2025-05-04 12:46508 view
2025-05-04 12:27737 view
Jamie Foxx's birthday dinner took a surprising turn on Friday the 13th.The "Collateral" actor was hi
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! The Wi-Fi I
Republican attorneys general in 19 states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block several Democra