The first person indicted in the state’s so-called “fake electors” case has been released from probation nearly two years early.
Her release comes just weeks after the state Court of Appeals overturned the indictments of others involved.
Loraine Pellegrino pleaded guilty in August last year to a single misdemeanor charge of filing a false document.
Her attorney, Joshua Kolsrud, said Pellegrino was compelled to accept the plea deal as her husband was ill.
“Her husband had Stage 4 cancer. And she's also elderly. And she felt like she couldn't fight the case and take care of her husband at the same time," Kolsrud said.
Pellegrino is founder and former president of Ahwatukee Republican Women. She was also one of 11 Republicans who signed documents after the 2020 election falsely stating that Donald Trump had won the popular vote in Arizona.
And it doesn't mean Pellegrino's co-defendants are off the hook.
"The Attorney General's Office can still appeal the appellate court decision to the Supreme Court,'' Kolsrud said. And even if Attorney General Kris Mayes does not appeal, or the state's high court refuses to reinstate the multi-count indictment, she still can start all over again with a new grand jury.
Or the attorney general could drop the case entirely.
A spokesman for Mayes said no decision has yet been made.
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