Guilty of voter fraud, SLO County woman asks for an attorney

October 10, 2026

Gaea Powell, photo by Jeff Specht

By KAREN VELIE

The San Luis Obispo County woman convicted of election fraud is again asking for an attorney, this time for her sentencing hearing and other post trial issues. Gaea Powell’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19.

On Oct. 5, Powell filed a motion to withdraw her request to represent herself. Powell contends it will take her new legal counsel several weeks to get transcripts and additional time to review the records.

In her motion, Powell lists five tasks she wants an attorney to accomplish before her sentencing:

• Obtain and review relevant transcripts and court records.
• Evaluate potential grounds for a new trial.
• Help with a motion for return of her cell phones.
• Review the probation report and prepare for sentencing.
• Protect her appellate rights.

In her motion, Powell claims she fist asked for an attorney during trial because of health issues.

“On Sept. 1, before jury selection, I asked the court for an attorney while experiencing illness which hindered my ability in preparing and presenting my defense,” Powell writes in her Oct. 5 motion. “The court denied that request.”

More than six months before her trial began, Powell filed a motion to represent herself.

SLO County Judge Timothy Covello argued against Powell’s plan and offered to appoint a public defender to represent her. She declined Covello’s offer even after he warned that she would not be able to change her mind in the days before the start of trial.

After failing to show up at her first day of trial, the next day Powell arrived at court with a doctor’s note explaining her earlier absence. In total, she provided the court with two letters from a chiropractor who had an office in the same building as her workspace.

The notes mentioned fatigue, anxiety, a stomach ache, trouble forming sentences and a shaky voice.

SLO County Superior Court Judge Timothy Covello questioned the legitimacy of the two letters, which he refereed to as “self serving hearsay.”

“Unless you can’t get here, you need to be present,” Judge Covello said before noting that witnesses, defendants and attorneys are often anxious and nauseous before a trial begins. Judge Covello spoke of an attorney vomiting in the bathroom before he gave his opening statement.

After the court rejected her request for a continuance, Powell said it was probably time for her to request an attorney.

Judge Covello reminded Powell that he could not have made it clearer that she needed to have an attorney, but it was not something she could do at the start of trial.

Following a 10-day trial, the jury  found Powell guilty of nine counts – eight felonies and one misdemeanor – for election fraud committed during the 2022 and 2024 Arroyo Grande mayoral races. However, one of the nine election fraud counts on which the jury convicted Powell has been nullified because the verdict was not read in court.

Under California law, if a verdict is not openly read, acknowledged and recorded before the jury is discharged, it is nullified.

While the law allows the court to sentence Powell to multiple years in prison, the SLO County District Attorney’s Office stated several times it was not planning to seek a prison sentence, and instead would seek a shorter term in the SLO County Jail.

Powell is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 19.

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