05/21/2026
Re: Pardons and Commutations
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, May 15, 2026:
During my time as Governor, prior to today, I have granted 100 pardons, 25 commutations, 3 commutation of death penalty sentences to life without parole, and separately granted 4,083 pardons for ma*****na convictions and four pardons for psilocybin convictions. Commutations and pardons are hard and weighty decisions where I seek to balance public safety with fairness, mercy and justice. I do what I personally believe is right, even knowing that in some instances these decisions can be unpopular. It is a power solely reserved for the governor to serve as a corrective against injustice, and therefore one that I take extraordinarily seriously.
Today, I am issuing an additional 35 pardons and 9 commutations for a variety of cases. They include cases of individuals who have become model prisoners, who have an immigration-specific consequence, who are suffering from medical conditions, who were punished for their speech, and who received sentences far more severe than their peers. In each instance I carefully considered the individual merits, including whether justice was applied fairly, whether the applicant is likely to recommit, their risk to public safety, their health and age, and whether they have taken accountability. Often my actions are guided by disproportionate sentences, particularly when one offender gets significantly more time than their co-conspirators or more time than others get for similar crimes. Fairness and justice being evenly applied is a cornerstone of our democracy, and what is fair is not necessarily what is popular.
One in particular I’d like to highlight is Branden Kreuzer, who I granted clemency to today. Mr. Kreuzer committed a series of crimes when he was 19, culminating in an armed robbery of a gas station, a chase with police, and an assault on a peace officer. These were very serious crimes. Kruezer’s sentence was longer than many people receive for crimes resulting in death. Since entering DOC, Kreuzer has demonstrated remorse and been a model for rehabilitation, establishing a program called Redemption Road CrossFit that operates in multiple DOC facilities, and he’s been a mentor and role model for countless offenders. To my mind, his good works are worthy of earning him a second chance despite the seriousness of his crimes when he was 19, and I have faith that he will do even more good for Coloradans outside the prison walls than inside. He will be released to parole effective June 1, 2026.
While in many instances, it’s facts such as the above that guide my decision-making, in others, I simply believe a sentence on its face is incorrect. This was true in the instance of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, who received a 110 year sentence predicated on the state’s mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. In that case, I reduced his sentence from 110 to 10 years, with a possibility of parole on December 30, 2026. In that instance, I acted swiftly, ahead of the courts, because I believed it was the right thing to do. I have adjusted many sentences during my governorship because I believed them to be simply too long.
In another case attracting significant public attention is Tina Peters. I believe based on the facts of the case that her sentence is simply disproportionate for a first time, non-violent offender. It’s one of my bedrock beliefs that our laws should be applied fairly, and I simply do not believe that was what happened in this case. A three judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals agrees, ordering just last month that she be resentenced. In their ruling they said, “We affirm Peters’s convictions, but we reverse her sentence because it was based in part on improper consideration of her exercise of her right to free speech.” They went on to write in their opinion remanding the case for resentencing,
“Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud; it was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud. Indeed, under these circumstances, just as her purported beliefs underlying her motive for her actions were not relevant to her defense, the trial court should not have considered those beliefs relevant when imposing sentence.”
I also agree with the court and legal scholars across the country that the President’s pardon was “bogus,” and that her conviction itself was based on sound evidence and prosecutorial practice. The President has no standing to grant pardons for state level crimes just like I can’t grant pardons for federal crimes.
Tina Peters’ crimes were serious and she deserves to serve time in prison. Her statements about the election were wrong and have been repeatedly disproven. But her Constitutionally protected 1st Amendment rights cannot be the cause of a greater sentence, period. And I believe that’s what happened here. That’s why today I am reducing her sentence to be more in alignment with sentencing for a first time, non-violent criminal conviction: from 8 ¾ years to 4 ⅜ years with a corresponding parole date of June 1, 2026.
To be clear, I am not pardoning Tina Peters, and I have never considered a pardon. Tina Peters violated state law and broke the public trust by lying to the Secretary of State and illegally accessing a computer room in 2021 prior to a software update. Her actions were clearly illegal, wrong, and financially costly to Mesa County, and Colorado.
Tina Peters will remain a convicted felon for her crimes. I am simply correcting what I see as the error the trial court made by sentencing her to nearly nine years in prison.
Tina Peters finally accepts responsibility for her crimes and pledges to follow the law going forward.
Tina Peters said: “For years I’ve dedicated myself. But I made mistakes. Four years ago, I misled the Secretary of State when allowing a person to gain access to county voting equipment. That was wrong.”.
I am glad that she is finally taking accountability for her actions.
In examining this case, I gained a deeper understanding of the passion that many Coloradans feel about how justice was served in this case. It hits a nerve for people on both sides of the aisle. Some incorrectly feel that she did not commit a crime and should not have been convicted at all. Others see her as a symbol and want her to be in prison for as long as possible. Our legal system should not be based on symbols, politics and passions – it should be based on the law being applied fairly in every instance.
I want to be very clear about one thing, Tina Peter’s election claims are wrong. Our election system in Colorado is a gold standard that helps people make their voices heard, and it’s because of the people who work in our elections that this is possible. I appreciate the work that our Secretary of State, our clerks of both parties and recorders from both sides of the aisle, and our election workers do so that every eligible Coloradan can vote, and to ensure our elections are safe, secure and accurate. Too many election workers here at home and around the country have faced threats for simply doing their jobs - it’s unacceptable. We need to take the rhetoric down. We need to accept the outcomes of free and fair elections, and we need to do all that we can to protect the vote.
I share all of this not to convince anyone, but to provide some understanding into why this decision - and all the clemency actions today - are being made and why I believe it’s the right one.
This is not my final round of commutations. I extended the deadline for requests for commutation to April 3, and my team is reviewing hundreds of applications from that round now which I expect to act on some of before the end of my term. Each one of those will be as carefully considered as these have been.
Sincerely,
Governor Jared Polis
