Lorraine Pellegrino, an Arizona Republican who claimed to be a legitimate elector for President Trump, has pleaded guilty to filing a fraudulent Electoral College certificate. Pellegrino, one of 11 Arizona Republicans who posed as Trump’s electors in 2020, accepted a plea deal for a single charge of filing a “false instrument.”
This plea is part of a broader case where Pellegrino and others were accused of conspiring to corrupt Arizona’s election results.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, charged the 11 electors and several Trump allies in April. Although Trump was not charged, a state grand jury identified him as an unindicted coconspirator.
Pellegrino’s plea deal, which includes three years of probation and no jail time, marks the second guilty plea in the Arizona case in as many days. Former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis also began cooperating with prosecutors this week in exchange for a deal to dismiss her charges. Ellis had previously cooperated in the Georgia case.
Pellegrino is the first participant in the elector scheme to admit criminal responsibility. The other charges she faced, including conspiracy and forgery, were dismissed as part of her deal. Trump’s attorneys have argued that the so-called contingent electors were merely placeholders in case Trump succeeded in his challenges to Biden’s election fraud. His allies were pushing Republican state legislatures to certify these electors to fuel further legal challenges.
