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Michele Fiore's job status changed Monday following a Nevada
Commission on Judicial Discipline hearing last week and a
decision filed Monday with the state Supreme Court. The
commission had suspended Fiore with pay from the judgeship in
Pahrump following her indictment in July on federal wire fraud
and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges.
Her court-appointed attorney, Paola Armeni, didn’t immediately
respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment.
A jury found Fiore guilty Oct. 3 following a weeklong trial in
U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. Jurors were told she diverted
for personal use some $70,000 that had been donated for a statue
of one of two police officers killed on duty in June 2014.
Evidence showed that Fiore used some of the money for cosmetic
surgery, rent and her daughter's wedding.
Fiore, 54, is a former state Assembly and Las Vegas City Council
member who was appointed as a judge by Nye County lawmakers in
2022 after she lost her campaign for state treasurer. She was
elected in June to complete the unexpired term of a judge who
died. Pahrump is an hour’s drive west of Las Vegas.
She remains free while awaiting sentencing set for Jan. 6 and
could face decades in federal prison. Her former attorney said
after the verdict that Fiore intends to appeal her conviction.
Fiore may be best known for supporting gun ownership and backing
states’ rights advocate Cliven Bundy during and after armed
standoffs against federal officers in Bunkerville, Nevada, in
2014, and at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016.
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