Nevada politician guilty of using $70,000 meant for statue of slain officer for personal costs

LAS VEGAS– A Nevada Republican politician who ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer two years ago was found guilty Thursday of using money raised for a statue honoring a slain police officer for personal costsincluding plastic surgery.

A jury convicted Michel Fiorea former Las Vegas city councilman and state legislator, on six counts of federal fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, This is reported by KLAS-TV in Las Vegas. The weeklong trial in U.S. District Court in Nevada began last week.

Each count carries a possible penalty of 20 years in prison. Fiore, who has been suspended without pay from her current elected position as justice of the peace in rural Pahrump, Nevada, will be sentenced on January 6. She will remain at large while she awaits sentencing.

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

Federal prosecutors said at trial that Fiore had raised more than $70,000 for the statue of a Las Vegas police officer who was shot and killed while on duty in 2014, but that he had instead spent the money on plastic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.

“Michele Fiore used tragedy to line her pockets,” said federal prosecutor Dahoud Askar.

FBI agents subpoenaed records and searched Fiore’s northwest Las Vegas home in 2021 in connection with her campaign spending. Sanft told the jury that the FBI’s investigation was “shoddy.”

Fiore, who does not have a law degree, does appointed judge in deep-red Nye County in 2022, shortly after she lost her campaign for state treasurer. She was elected in June to complete 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 Legislature from 2012 to 2016 and made headlines by posing with guns and her family for Christmas cards. From 2017 to 2022, she served as a councilwoman in Las Vegas.