Pahrump judge and former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore has been classified a domestic terrorist by the government based on Department of Homeland Security and FBI threat levels, her lawyer said in new court documents.
Fiore, 53, of Pahrump, was indicted by a federal grand jury in July on wire fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors have accused her of raising tens of thousands of dollars for a statue of a fallen Metropolitan Police Department officer, Alyn Beck, but spending it on herself and her daughter’s wedding.
She has pleaded not guilty and her trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 24.
Terrorist designation
Controversy has followed Fiore throughout her political career. As an assemblywoman in 2015, she made international headlines for a Christmas card that showed her and her family toting guns. The Review-Journal found in 2019 that Fiore had a history of unreported tax problems. Fellow Councilwoman Victoria Seaman accused Fiore of breaking her finger in an altercation at Las Vegas City Hall.
Fiore also supported the Bundy family in its 2014 conflict with the federal government.
That support may have led to Fiore’s terrorist classification, her attorney, Michael Sanft, said in court documents.
Sanft and Fiore did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
At some point, according to Sanft, the government increased its threat level classification of Fiore from a Department of Homeland Security and FBI level for racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism to one for anti-government and anti-authority violent extremism.
Sanft said the terrorist classification was “an abhorrent and meritless abuse of due process that has yet to be seen in any type of case against a public servant for purported and alleged campaign finance violations.”
The Department of Justice declined to comment.
Fiore’s home was raided by the FBI in 2021 as part of a campaign finance investigation, the Review-Journal previously reported.
“Fiore has repeatedly defrauded donors to her campaigns, her political action committee, and even her Section 501(c)(3) charity by secretly diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to those entities for her personal use,” prosecutors have said.
Fiore has denied that allegation.
Fight over testimony
Sanft and prosecutors are also fighting over whether Nicole Beck, the widow of the officer whose statue is at the center of the case, can testify.
Witness lists are not currently available to the public, but Sanft said in a filing that Beck was served a subpoena to testify.
Sanft said Beck does not have information about the allegations against Fiore.
“The Government’s insistence in including fallen officer Alyn Beck’s widow amounts to nothing more than to inflame both the public as well as the jury against Ms. Fiore,” he alleged.
Nicole Beck could not be reached for comment.
Prosecutors said in court documents that they intended to have Nicole Beck “provide testimony that will be relevant and not unfairly prejudicial.”
Fiore had never met Nicole Beck before she proposed the statue at a groundbreaking ceremony for a park dedicated to Alyn Beck, prosecutors said, and Nicole Beck wasn’t completely on board with the idea.
“The United States expects that Nicole Beck would testify that she was not sure that she liked the idea of a statue, both because she did not think it would look like her husband and because she was worried it would become a target for vandalism by anti-police protesters,” prosecutors wrote.
Fiore also did not tell Beck about her statue fundraising efforts, prosecutors said.
“The fact that Fiore never consulted Mrs. Beck about her feelings about the statue, and the fact that she rarely interacted with her throughout the process, provides circumstantial evidence that Fiore’s true motive was not to honor Beck’s husband,” prosecutors claimed. “It was to find an angle that would help her raise money from sympathetic donors and enrich herself and her family.”
Prosecutors also hinted at Fiore’s “anticipated defense:” that she diverted the money because of the “‘unexpected’ generosity” of a company that paid for the park and the statue.
That Fiore didn’t consult Beck or offer her any of the money “undercuts” that defense, they said.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.