Nevada politician guilty of using $70,000 for slain officer's statue at personal expense

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada Republican politician who ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer two years ago was found guilty Thursday of using funds for a statue honoring a slain police officer for personal expenses, including cosmetic surgery .

A jury convicted Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and state representative, of six counts of federal wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, KLAS-TV in Las Vegas reported. The week-long trial in U.S. District Court in Nevada began last week.

Each count is punishable by 20 years in prison. Fiore, who was suspended without pay from her current position as justice of the peace in rural Pahrump, Nevada, will be sentenced Jan. 6. She remains free while she awaits sentencing.

Her attorney, Michael Sanft, said Fiore will appeal the ruling.

Federal prosecutors said in court that Fiore raised more than $70,000 for a statue of a Las Vegas police officer shot in the line of duty in 2014, but instead spent the money on plastic surgery, rent and her daughter's wedding.

“Michele Fiore took advantage of a tragedy to line her pockets,” said federal prosecutor Dahoud Askar.

FBI agents subpoenaed files and searched Fiore's northwest Las Vegas home in 2021 in connection with her campaign spending. Gentle told the jury that the FBI's investigation was “sloppy.”

Fiore, who does not have a law degree, was appointed judge in deep-red Nye County in 2022, shortly after losing her campaign for state treasurer. She was elected in June to finish the unexpired term of a deceased judge. Pahrump is an hour's drive west of Las Vegas.

The 54-year-old served in the state parliament from 2012 to 2016 and made headlines by posing with weapons and her family for Christmas cards. She was a Las Vegas city councilwoman from 2017 to 2022.