President Trump has pardoned a Las Vegas politician convicted last year of using money meant for a statue honoring a slain police officer on personal costs, including plastic surgery.
Michele Fiore, a former city councilwoman and Nevada state lawmaker, was found guilty in October of six counts of federal wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was out of custody ahead of a sentencing scheduled for next month.
Fiore’s lawyers filed a motion on Thursday to vacate her sentencing date, attaching a “full and unconditional pardon” signed by Mr. Trump a day earlier.
In a statement posted to Facebook, the loyal Trump supporter expressed gratitude to the president while also accusing the U.S. government and “select media outlets” of a broad, decade-long conspiracy to “target and dismantle” her life. Fiore pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mr. Trump has used his pardoning power extensively so far during his second term. On his first day in office, he pardoned roughly 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Since then, the president has pardoned Silk Road online marketplace founder Ross Ulbricht and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, among others.
The pardon comes less than a week after Fiore lost a bid for a new trial. She had been facing the possibility of decades in prison.
Federal prosecutors alleged during trial that Fiore, 54, had raised more than $70,000 for the statue of a Las Vegas police officer who was fatally shot in 2014 in the line of duty, but had instead spent some of the funds on cosmetic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.
“Michele Fiore used a tragedy to line her pockets,” federal prosecutor Dahoud Askar said.
FBI agents in 2021 subpoenaed records and searched Fiore’s home in Las Vegas in connection with her campaign spending.
Fiore served in the Nevada Legislature from 2012 to 2016. She was a Las Vegas councilwoman from 2017 to 2022. While serving as a state lawmaker, Fiore gained national attention for her support of rancher Cliven Bundy and his family during armed standoffs between militiamen and federal law enforcement officers in Bunkerville, Nevada, in 2014 and Malheur, Oregon, in 2016.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Nevada Democratic Party Executive Director Hilary Barrett called the pardon “reckless” and a “slap in the face” to law enforcement officers.
Fiore, who does not have a law degree, was appointed as a judge in deep-red Nye County in 2022 shortly after she lost her campaign for state treasurer. She was elected in June 2024 to complete the unexpired term of a judge who died but had been suspended without pay amid her legal troubles. Pahrump is an hour’s drive west of Las Vegas.
Fiore said in her statement Thursday that she plans to return to the bench next week.
Nye County said in an email to The Associated Press that it is awaiting an update from the state Commission on Judicial Discipline on Fiore’s current suspension. The AP sent emails seeking comment to the commission, as well as to Fiore’s lawyer.
