Fiore seeks to dismiss judicial discipline charges
Suspended Pahrump Justice of the Peace Michele Fiore is seeking to dismiss judicial discipline charges filed against her, arguing that those charges improperly rely on conduct that predates her time as a judge.
“The Statement of Formal Charges is not grounded in identifiable judicial misconduct occurring during Judge Fiore’s service on the bench,” Fiore’s attorney Paola Armeni wrote in a motion. “Instead, it attempts to retroactively transform alleged private pre-bench conduct into an indefinite and continuing ethics violation through a novel theory unsupported by statute, canon, rule, or precedent.”
Fiore, a former Las Vegas councilwoman, was pardoned by President Donald Trump in April 2025 after federal jurors found her guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud charges in 2024.
Federal prosecutors said she raised tens of thousands of dollars for a statue honoring Metropolitan Police Department officer Alyn Beck, who was shot and killed with his partner in 2014.
The statue was built, but it was paid for by developer Olympia Companies, according to trial testimony. Fiore spent the donations on personal expenses: rent, plastic surgery and her daughter’s wedding, prosecutors said.
Though the pardon saved Fiore from being sentenced, formally convicted or ordered to pay restitution to the donors she was accused of defrauding, it did not return her to the bench.
Fiore was suspended from her judicial position during the criminal case and continues to be suspended.
In April, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline charged her with violating judicial conduct rules based on her actions related to the statue scheme and the jury’s verdict against her.
Those charges came after the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the suspension of Fiore.
“Judge Fiore’s ongoing wrongful retention of the donations and unjust enrichment creates in reasonable minds a perception that Judge Fiore’s honesty, impartiality, temperament or fitness to serve as a judge is adversely affected,” wrote Thomas Donaldson, a special counsel for the commission.
Armeni argued that the commission failed to identify a legal requirement for Fiore to repay funds, had acted inconsistently and improperly conflated a jury verdict with judicial misconduct based on actions that predated Fiore’s judicial service.
“The disciplinary commission is charged with upholding the rule of law,” she wrote in the motion, which she said she submitted Friday. “As such, it cannot base its actions on personal beliefs, selectively manipulate its own rules, or expand its authority in an active attempt to override the legal effect of a Presidential Pardon, the will of the citizens of Nye County who elected Judge Fiore, and the intentions of the subject donors themselves.”
The attorney also suggested that the case against Fiore could have implications for other judges.
“The Commission’s theory would improperly expand judicial discipline beyond its lawful limits,” Armeni said. “If accepted, any unresolved allegation, debt, or private dispute predating judicial office could be transformed into an ongoing ethics violation simply because the individual later became a judge.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
