Trump pardons former Las Vegas councilwoman Michele Fiore

Michele Fiore, a Pahrump judge who ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 2022, speaks to reporters outside U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Friday, July 19, 2024, after pleading not guilty to federal fraud and conspiracy charges. Her attorney, Michael Sanft, watches at left. Photo by: Ken Ritter / AP

President Donald Trump pardoned former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, a fellow Republican, before she was to be sentenced on a federal wire fraud conviction.

A federal jury last year found Fiore guilty of personal use of funds designated for honoring fallen Metro Police officer Alyn Beck, who was fatally shot alongside his partner Igor Soldo in 2014. Fiore, prosecutors said, paid for travel, rent and plastic surgery using the funds. Jurors convicted her on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud.

Trump’s “full and unconditional pardon” to Fiore was granted Wednesday, according to court documents filed Thursday.

“Today, I stand before you — not just as a free woman, but as a vindicated soul whose prayers were heard, whose faith held firm, and whose truth could not be buried by injustice,” Fiore wrote in a statement.

Federal wire fraud comes with a maximum term of 20 years in prison per count. Last week, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey denied motions filed by Fiore seeking acquittal or a new trial.

“Fiore has not shown that these circumstances were erroneous — let alone of the caliber that merits a new trial,” Dorsey wrote.

Fiore’s trial featured witnesses including Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who had been Clark County sheriff during the time of the officers’ killings in 2014. He had said he was among the donors defrauded by Fiore, donating $5,000 to Fiore’s political action committee.

Nevada State. Sen. Fabian Doñate, D-Las Vegas, criticized Trump-aligned Republicans’ criminal justice agenda.

“MAGA Republicans love to call themselves the party of ‘law and order’” Donate posted on X. “Until it’s one of their own.”

Fiore had been justice of the peace in Pahrump when she was charged. The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline subsequently suspended her.

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