By admin A Nevada Republican who once ran for state treasurer has been suspended without pay from a judge in rural Pahrump after she was found guilty of misusing funds raised for a memorial for a murdered Las Vegas police officer.
LAS VEGAS– A Republican who once ran for Nevada state treasurer has been suspended without pay from her village judgeship after a federal jury found she used funds raised for a memorial for a murdered Las Vegas police officer for her own personal use.
Michele Fiore’s professional 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 suspended Fiore with pay from Pahrump Superior Court following her July indictment on federal wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges.
Her court-appointed attorney, Paola Armeni, did not immediately respond Tuesday to an email seeking comment.
A jury found Fiore guilty on October 3 after a week-long trial in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. Judges were told she used about $70,000 donated to a memorial for one of two police officers killed in the line of duty in June 2014 for her own use. Evidence showed Fiore used some of the money for plastic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.
Fiore, 54, is a former member of the State Assembly and Las Vegas City Council who was appointed judge by Nye County lawmakers in 2022 after losing a campaign for state treasurer. She was elected in June to finish the late judge’s term. Pahrump is located an hour west of Las Vegas.
She remains free while awaiting sentencing on January 6 and faces several decades in federal prison. Her former lawyer said after the verdict that Fiore intended to appeal the verdict.
Fiore may be best known for supporting gun control and states’ rights advocate Cliven Bundy during and after armed clashes with federal officers in Bunkerville, Nevada, in 2014 and at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016.