Former Rep. Tracey Bernett pleads guilty
Former House District 12 Rep. Tracey Bernett, who was accused of lying about her primary residence to run for reelection, pleaded guilty in her case Friday and was given a deferred judgment and probation.
Bernett, 67, pleaded guilty in Boulder District Court to a felony count of attempt to influence a public servant and a misdemeanor count of perjury.
Per the plea agreement, Bernett will be sentenced to a twoyear deferred judgment on the attempt to influence count and a concurrent two-year probation sentence on the perjury count.
A deferred judgment means that if Bernett complies with the conditions of her probation and avoids any new criminal charges during the two years, she will be allowed to withdraw her guilty plea to the felony and the count will be dismissed. The misdemeanor count will remain on Bernett’s record.
Bernett will have to complete 150 hours of community service and state for the record that she was not eligible to run for office in November.
Bernett, a Democrat, won reelection in November but then resigned her seat in early January. A vacancy committee last month appointed Louisville City Councilman Kyle Brown to replace Bernett.
“I apologize to those who supported me and the citizens of Colorado,” Bernett said during the hearing.
“My life has always involved public service, and I will continue to do what I can for the public good.”
Boulder District Judge Nancy Salomone accepted the plea deal and issued the stipulated sentence.
“When one person takes an action that encourages that distrust that our country has in our public servants, it endangers all public servants and it endangers democracy,” Salomone said.
According to an affidavit, prosecutors determined although Bernett rented an apartment in Louisville in order to qualify for elected office, she did not actually live there.
“These criminal acts, including the filing of false sworn documents, violated the public trust and the integrity of our election process,” Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said. “I want to acknowledge and thank the District Attorney Investigators and Chief Deputy District Attorney Adrian Van Nice for their hard work in developing the evidence and making this outcome possible. It is wholly unacceptable when public servants violate the law and the public’s trust in connection with their duties.”
Louisville resident Theresa Watson filed a complaint with the DA’S Office in September claiming Bernett falsified her residency.
According to the affidavit, Bernett, who had been serving her first term in office, listed the same Crestview Lane address on her candidate affidavits in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in campaign filings with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
But that address, which is in unincorporated Boulder County south of Longmont, was redrawn into House District 19 during last year’s redistricting process, along with Erie, Firestone, Frederick and Dacono.
In November of 2021, Bernett entered a Steel Street address in Louisville on her candidate affidavit for re-election to House District 12. Bernett listed a P.O. Box in Niwot as her mailing address, which she had updated in 2020.
But according to an affidavit, examinations of Bernett’s social media posts “indicated that she is still living on (Crestview Lane), that she maintains a large tomato garden there, that she has current family photos there and that she promotes a happy marriage to her husband who still lives on (Crestview Lane),” and also “has frequent visits from her Maine-coon cat in her home office.”
A search of the Louisville apartment found no evidence of a pet and no computers, printers or TVS, and the space was “spartanly furnished with no personal or family photographs and no indication of a pet.”
Investigators said the cabinets were covered in cobwebs and that the only food items in the refrigerator were a bottle of sparkling cider, soy sauce and Smucker’s spread. There was only a stick of butter in the freezer and no ice.
The affidavit said the garage was empty and the bedroom consisted of a bed on the floor, while the closet had only a few items of women’s clothing.
According to the affidavit, investigators also spoke to neighbors of the Louisville unit who all said they either rarely or never saw Bernett. One neighbor did say that the one time she saw Bernett, she tried to take a selfie with him and appeared to be trying to prove they were neighbors.
Investigators pulled cellphone data that showed Bernett made 31 times more connections to the cell tower near her Crestview address than the Louisville address, and utility bills showed lower than average electricity and water usage for most of the time she claimed she was living there.
“Through the investigation, it was determined that she falsely represented her residence over a ninemonth period to qualify for elected office and that she filed a sworn document with the Secretary of State’s Office to influence their determination that she qualified for the ballot,” the affidavit read. “Also, by misrepresenting her residence, she voted in a district in which she did not actually live. It is worth noting that local matters were, also, on that ballot that were available only to local voters. It is clear from the investigation that, contrary to her submissions to the Secretary of State, that she continued to live with her family in another district.”