Former state Rep. Tracey Bernett, D-Louisville, pleaded guilty Friday to charges related to residency fraud and received a deferred sentence and two-years probation, according to a news release.

Prosecutors charged Bernett last year with falsifying her residency in order to run for re-election to House District 12. Bernett was elected in 2020 to represent HD12, but after redistricting, her home was drawn into House District 19. 

She rented an apartment in Louisville that was in HD12, but an investigation by the Boulder County District Attorney’s office found no evidence that this was her permanent home.

State law requires a member of the General Assembly to live in the district they intend to represent one year prior to the general election.

The investigation, which included five search warrants, found little to no food in the apartment’s refrigerator, few clothes in the closets, no evidence of a cat, which Bernett featured on social media, and no charger for her Tesla in the garage. According to the affidavit tied to the investigation, neighbors at the Louisville apartment complex said they did not know Bernett.

A statement Friday from the Boulder District Attorney’s office noted Bernett “filed false sworn documents with the Secretary of State’s Office in connection with her criminal acts. After changing her voter registration record to reflect the false address, Ms. Bernett also voted in a primary election in a district in which she did not reside.”

Friday, Bernett pleaded guilty to two charges: Attempt to influence a public servant, a class 4 felony, and a class-one misdemeanor charge of perjury. As part of a plea deal, three other charges – two class-5 felony charges of forgery and false information tied to a residence, and an unclassified misdemeanor charge of procuring false registration – were dismissed.

The felony charge Bernett plead guilty to carried a two-year deferred judgement and sentence, which includes a condition of 150 hours of useful public service work. The Court will defer entry of a felony conviction on this count pending her successful completion of the deferred judgment and sentence, according to prosecutors.

On the perjury count, the judge sentenced Bernett to two years probation with the same 150 hours of useful public service, to run concurrently with the sentence on the felony charge. The misdemeanor conviction will remain on Bernett’s record.

Bernett resigned her House seat Jan. 8, one day before the start of the 2023 legislative session. The district attorney’s statement noted that her resignation was “a key factor in the resolution of the case.”

Bernett also admitted, as part of the plea deal, she was ineligible to serve as a representative of House District 12 because she was not a resident of the district at that time.

“These criminal acts, including the filing of false sworn documents, violated the public trust and the integrity of our election process,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a news release. “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.”

Rep. Kyle Brown, D-Louisville, was chosen Jan. 28 by a Boulder County Democratic vacancy committee to represent HD 12.

At least eight lawmakers who served in the 2021-22 legislative session had questions raised about their residency status. Then-Sen. Pete Lee, D-Colorado Springs, was charged with residency fraud in El Paso County but those charges were dismissed due to incorrect information presented to an El Paso County grand jury by the Office of Attorney Regulation. then-Sen. Dennis Hisey, R-Colorado Springs, is currently under investigation by the El Paso County District Attorney for renting an apartment in a Senate district while maintaining his home outside of the district.