Judicial discipline hearing for Michele Fiore ends without decision on suspension
A hearing to discuss whether Michele Fiore should continue to be suspended from her position as a Pahrump judge after her presidential pardon ended without a decision Friday.
Fiore, a former Las Vegas councilwoman and assemblywoman, was found guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud charges by a federal jury in October and was granted a full and unconditional pardon by President Donald Trump on April 23, before she could be sentenced.
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 Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline suspended Fiore from her job as a Pahrump justice of the peace after she was indicted and filed a notice May 2 that it intended to consider continuing to suspend Fiore even if it found the prior suspension was no longer merited in light of the pardon.
“To the extent that any additional suspension continues, I submit that it would exceed this commission’s jurisdiction and would be an abuse of discretion,” defense attorney Paola Armeni said.
Commission members had no questions for Armeni on Friday and went into a closed session to consider Fiore’s case after Armeni made her statement.
Conduct prior to being judge
Armeni argued the judicial discipline body cannot police allegations of misconduct from before someone becomes a judge.
The federal case was based on actions Fiore took as a councilwoman. The commission has said if it finds the pardon voids its prior suspension, it will decide whether the underlying allegations against Fiore make her “a substantial threat of serious harm to the public or to the administration of justice.”
Fiore’s attorney told the commission her client is not a danger to the community.
“There is nothing before this commission about her conduct as a judge. Nothing,” Armeni said. “And to allow the commission to go back almost five years later and look at her actions five years later when she was not subject to judicial canons, she was not sitting on the bench, is dangerous.”
She added: “If that’s the precedent that this commission takes, that should put every sitting judge in a position that they are terrified.”
Armeni also said a full pardon “releases the punishment and blots out the existence of guilt,” quoting an 1866 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
The hearing was conducted over videoconferencing. Fiore did not speak, but sat behind Armeni, listening.
“I deeply respect the process and appreciate the opportunity to be heard,” Fiore said in a text message afterward. “My attorney, Paola Armeni, presented our position with clarity, integrity, and legal brilliance. At this time, I will respectfully wait for the Judicial Commission to issue its decision and remain hopeful for a fair and just outcome.”
Fiore previously said God wanted her back on the bench.
“On Monday, I will walk back into my courtroom as the elected Justice of the Peace — not because man permitted it, but because God ordained it,” she wrote in a statement after Trump’s pardon but has not yet returned to the courtroom.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.
