Michele Fiore pardoned by Trump after federal fraud conviction
President Donald Trump has granted “a full and unconditional pardon” to Michele Fiore, the former Las Vegas councilwoman found guilty of defrauding donors who believed they were giving money for a statue to honor a fallen Las Vegas police officer.
Fiore was found guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud charges by a federal jury in October. Federal prosecutors accused Fiore of raising tens of thousands of dollars through a charity and political action committee for a statue honoring Metropolitan Police Department officer Alyn Beck, who was shot and killed with his partner in 2014.
Prosecutors said Fiore spent the donations on rent, plastic surgery and payments on her daughter’s wedding. On Thursday, Fiore’s defense attorneys filed a motion to vacate her May 14 sentencing, and included a copy of Wednesday’s order from Trump, pardoning Fiore.
“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,” she said in an emailed statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Pahrump Valley Times on Thursday.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford slammed the pardon in a statement.
“Donald Trump’s blatant disregard for law enforcement is sickening, and pardoning someone who stole from a police memorial fund is a disgrace,” Ford said. “As Nevada’s top cop, I believe there’s no room for reprieve when it comes to betraying the families of fallen officers. I will continue to stand with our men and women in uniform.”
Fiore cast the pardon in biblical terms. Her statement began with a phrase lifted from the book of Isaiah: “No weapon formed against me shall prosper” and said she would return to her position as a Pahrump justice of the peace.
“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.
Pahrump Justice Court administrator Alisa Shoults said she did not yet know if Fiore, who was suspended without pay by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, would return to her position Monday.
Fiore complained about that suspension, saying it was “a deliberate effort to break me, not just legally but financially.” She said she sold most of her possessions in an effort to pay her bills.
“They tried to bankrupt me,” she said. “I chose to break free. And I did it with dignity, not debt. I didn’t just survive their suspension — I turned it into a spiritual cleanse.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Review-Journal staff writer Jessica Hill contributed to this report.
