Fiore was convicted of fraud after using Fallen Officers Memorial funds for his own benefit

Former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore was convicted Thursday of federal fraud charges after she used donations intended for a fallen police officer's memorial for her personal gain, marking a downfall for the fiery conservative who was elected two months ago Almost became Nevada treasurer years ago.

A jury in Las Vegas convicted Fiore, 54, of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The maximum penalty for each count is 20 years in prison. She will be sentenced Jan. 6 and barely reacted when Judge Jennifer Dorsey announced the sentence.

Michael Sanft, Fiore's attorney, said after the verdict that they would consider all possible appeal options but were now focusing on sentencing. Fiore declined to answer most of reporters' questions, saying the case was ongoing. She reiterated that there are facts surrounding the case that were not known to the jury and the public, but declined to elaborate.

The verdict was the culmination of a trial in which dozens of witnesses testified, including Gov. Joe Lombardo, FBI agents, local business owners and Fiore's daughter. Fiore declined to comment.

The case centered on the construction of a statue honoring Alyn Beck, a Las Vegas police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 2014. Federal prosecutors accused Fiore — a city councilwoman for six months in 2019 and 2020 — of soliciting donations for her PAC and a nonprofit organization to build the statue, but using the money for personal use, including her rent, plastic surgery and the wedding of another daughter.

“Officer Beck’s memory or his sacrifice were never important to her,” federal prosecutor Alexander Gottfried said in his closing argument Thursday. “She took these donors’ money. She took it from people who were trying to do something good.”

Sanft argued that the prosecution's evidence was not beyond a reasonable doubt – the level required to prove guilt – because they did not have receipts for all monetary transactions in the case and that Fiore's signature was not listed on any of the transactions involved. He also closely examined the FBI's 2021 search of Fiore's home, arguing that it was sloppy, went beyond the scope of the investigation and attempted to inaccurately portray Fiore as living a lavish lifestyle.

A real estate group, Olympia Companies, had originally agreed to pay for half of the statue but ended up footing the entire bill, according to Chris Armstrong, a company executive. The statue's sculptor also testified that Fiore never gave any money for the monument.

Several witnesses testified that Fiore had promised to use their donations to fund the statue, but that they were never contacted because the money was no longer needed, and that they were not fully refunded. Others who testified about giving money to Fiore for the statue included Tommy White, the secretary-treasurer of Laborers Local 872, attorney Peter Palivos and former Henderson Mayor Robert Groesbeck.

The evidence included an October 2019 letter from Fiore — which prosecutors say came after she realized the statue would not require a funding source — in which she solicited donations and promised that 100 percent would go toward funding the statue .

That letter was found during a search of Fiore's home – which Fiore's lawyer said was evidence that it was never actually released, but several donors said they had received similar requests for donations from Fiore. A request for donations to White, whose union represents construction workers in Las Vegas, was sent in February 2020, just days after the statue was unveiled to the public.

Follow the money

In several instances, Fiore's nonprofit and PAC transferred money (that prosecutors said was intended for the memorial) to her daughter Sheena Siegel — and on the same day, payments of similar amounts were made to entities affiliated with Fiore's, according to the bank Private life related documents submitted by the public prosecutor's office.

For example, on August 29, 2019, a check for $3,700 was issued to Siegel from Fiores PAC. That same day, prosecutors argued that Siegel cashed that check and someone made a $3,620 payment to Fiore's plastic surgeon.

Exactly two months later, Fiore wrote two checks from her nonprofit: one for $4,500 to Hamlet Events, Siegel's event planning company, and one for $5,000. On the same day, someone pays $5,000 to a company that provides services for her daughter's upcoming wedding.

A week later, Siegel withdrew $4,500 from the Hamlet Events account and a $4,500 payment was made to the wedding vendor the same day.

“She spent money as soon as it came in,” Gottfried said in his closing argument.

Additionally, Lombardo testified that Fiore contacted him (when he was sheriff in Clark County) asking for donations for the statue. His campaign account sent a $5,000 check to Fiore's PAC, and an FBI agent testified that shortly thereafter, $5,000 was transferred to Fiore's daughter's account to purchase a money order for Fiore's rent.

However, all of these transactions were unaccounted for, as the payments were probably made in cash. Therefore, Fiore's attorney argued, there was insufficient evidence that the money intended for the fallen officer's memorial was used for Fiore's personal use.

“They want you to take that step and say, 'Okay, it's appropriate at the time, so it's beyond a reasonable doubt,'” Sanft said in his closing argument Thursday.

But prosecutors did have evidence of how Fiore's nonprofit and PAC spent their money over the roughly six-month period to support the charges. Records showed the nonprofit — A Bright Present Foundation — paid about $77,000 in expenses, including more than $23,000 to Hamlet Events, nearly $14,000 to Siegel and more than $7,000 to Fiore's political Consulting firm.

Fiore reimbursed one donor — Las Vegas lobbyist Jay Brown — about $17,000 through her nonprofit, but another donor was unreimbursed about $10,000.

In his closing argument, Sanft asked the jury a series of hypothetical questions, raising the question of where that money ultimately ended up. He also cast doubt on allegations that Fiore used the donations to pay rent and for her daughter's wedding, arguing that the rent checks were incomplete and questioning why the bride and groom were never called to testify at the wedding in question .

End of a political career?

Fiore first entered the Nevada political world in 2012 by winning a race for state Assembly and quickly rose through the ranks, but lost leadership positions before the 2015 session due to controversies over tax liens totaling more than $1 million.

In 2016, she ran for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District and placed third in the GOP primary. A year later, she successfully ran to represent Ward 6 on the Las Vegas City Council, eventually becoming the city's mayor pro tempore, a position she held until her resignation in 2020. Her resignation came after she reportedly said, “If there's an opening and my white ass is more qualified than someone's black ass, then my white ass should get the job,” although Fiore denied that this was the reason for her resignation resignation is.

She was also sued by fellow City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, who claimed Fiore created a hostile workplace and physically assaulted her. Seaman was among the victims in the federal fraud case, although she did not testify.

In 2022, she narrowly lost a bid for state treasurer. She appeared in a campaign ad in which she shot down beer bottles labeled “Vaccination Requirement” and “CRT” (Critical Race Theory) and said she didn’t mind if people brought guns into courtrooms because “an armed society is one polite company is”. Shortly thereafter, she was appointed justice of the peace in rural Nye County and won another term this year.

She is also no stranger to the spotlight.

In 2015, she released a gun-themed calendar, particularly supporting the Bundy ranching family, which was at the center of the infamous cattle grazing dispute on federal lands. Following her fraud indictment, Fiore accused prosecutors of the same misconduct that occurred in connection with the Bundy family.

Updated 10/3/24 at 3:24 p.m. with additional case details and comments from Fiore and her attorney.