Walter Ringfield Jr., a former Maricopa County Elections Department (MCED) employee and progressive activist who was caught on video stealing a key FOB that was capable of reprogramming all 140 voting machine tabulators on Election Day pleaded guilty last week to one count of Attempted Computer Tampering and three theft charges for unrelated crimes. The activist, who had vowed to stop Republican lawyers combating wrongdoing on Election Day, will be sentenced on March 5.
Ringfield was caught last year in June prior to the primary election. Although the charges aren’t very serious, he is being held without bail, according to KJZZ.
Computer tampering is a class three felony which carries up to eight years in prison. He was initially charged with a more serious felony, a class two, for tampering with computers that are a “critical infrastructure resource,” but was allowed to plead to the lesser charge in exchange for changing his plea from innocent to guilty.
He also pleaded guilty to criminal charges unrelated to the key FOB theft. One of those was stealing over $1,000 in cash from a Fry’s grocery store in 2023 while employed there. He was given a diversion agreement by Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell instead of fully prosecuted. If he had been fully prosecuted, it would have shown up in a background check and he would not have been hired at MCED. He also pleaded guilty for breaking into the Arizona Senate and stealing memorabilia coins, and stealing jewelry from the Phoenix Art Museum.
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