Michele Fiore (R), now a justice of the peace in Nye County, Nev., had promised donors that their entire contributions would go toward a statue dedicated to an officer killed in the line of duty, the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday.
But Fiore used the donations on rent, travel and political fundraising bills, federal prosecutors said. She also transferred money to family members, including to pay for the wedding, the department said.
During her initial arraignment in a Las Vegas federal court Friday, Fiore, who was a council member during the alleged scheme, pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison on each count, according to prosecutors.
In a brief news conference outside the courtroom, Fiore called the allegations “repugnant.”
“I have served as a city councilwoman and a judge with integrity, honor and respect,” Fiore, 53, said Friday. “This indictment is a direct attack on my character. I look forward to learning the specifics of the accusations against me and addressing these horrible allegations head on.”
Nancy Schreihans, a clerk for the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, which investigates complaints against judges, said Wednesday that the organization is aware of the indictment but declined to comment further.
Fiore, who is from New York, is a staunch Republican who became well-known in Nevada for her colorful brand of politics. She has defended gun rights, but also supported both same-sex marriage and legalizing marijuana. In 2016, she received widespread attention for helping negotiate a resolution to a standoff between the FBI and anti-government occupiers in Oregon.
While announcing her run for governor in 2021, Fiore released a contentious campaign ad that unveiled her “three-shot plan” of banning vaccine mandates, banning critical race theory and stopping voter fraud. In it, she drives into the desert in a pickup truck with a “Trump 2024” bumper sticker, unholsters her gun and shoots at three “Socialism”-branded beer bottles that read “vaccine mandates,” “CRT” and “voter fraud.”
She left the race in 2022. That same year, she ran for state treasurer, but lost.
The Las Vegas City Council in 2015 approved plans to create a park honoring Alyn Beck, a 41-year-old police officer killed in the line of duty the year before, according to the indictment. The plan was approved before Fiore was elected to the council.
Beck — described by his family in his obituary as “arguably the toughest individual in the city of Las Vegas; but with the softest, kindest center” — and another officer were eating lunch at a restaurant in June 2014 when they were fatally shot, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. City police later told the Review-Journal that it was the first time two of its officers were killed in one incident.
The council also later approved plans for a park in honor of the other officer, Igor Soldo.
Fiore was elected to the Las Vegas City Council in 2017. The following year, the city broke ground on the Alyn Beck Memorial Park, funded by a private real estate development company, the indictment says. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Fiore allegedly proposed that a statue of Beck be installed at the park’s entrance.
The next year, the same company — which is not named in the indictment — agreed to pay a sculptor to create and install the statue, the indictment says. Prosecutors allege that despite knowing about this agreement, Fiore solicited donations ostensibly for the statue between July 2019 and January 2020.
She told certain donors, at least one of whom was a public official in Nevada, that if they wanted to contribute funds for the statue of Beck or another memorial for fallen officers, they could give money directly to her charity or her political action committee, the indictment alleges. She had created the PAC in 2017 and the charity, purportedly intended to raise money for services to the Las Vegas community, in 2019.
The statue was unveiled Jan. 31, 2020, the indictment states. But none of the money Fiore had solicited until then had been used on it, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Fiore said in a statement the same day that she had first learned of the indictment from news outlets and called it “unacceptable.”
“This indictment has been years in the making and has profoundly impacted my life, the lives of my adult children and grandchildren, my friends, and especially my constituents,” she wrote. “Now that I have been accused, I eagerly await my opportunity to address these charges in court.”
On Friday, standing next to her attorney outside the courtroom, Fiore briefly addressed reporters and promised to “stick to the script — because for you that are familiar with me, when I go off script, I get in trouble.” She then read a statement railing against what she called “the shadow games others have played for the past decade.”
“No weapon formed against me will ever prosper,” Fiore said, concluding her remarks. As she walked away, the gaggle of reporters began shouting a chorus of “Did you take the money?”
Their questions went unanswered.
A pretrial conference was set for Sept. 9, with a tentative trial date of Sept. 24.
