A Nevada Republican, Michele Fiore, who was an unsuccessful candidate for state treasurer in 2022, pleaded not guilty to two new charges on Monday. She is facing federal accusations of misusing funds raised for a statue honoring a slain police officer for personal and political expenses, including her daughter’s wedding. These new charges bring the total number of wire fraud and conspiracy counts against Fiore to seven, each carrying a potential 20-year prison sentence. She had previously pleaded not guilty to a five-count criminal indictment.
Fiore, a former state Assembly and Las Vegas City Council member, is currently suspended from her elected position as a justice of the peace in rural Pahrump. Along with her defense attorney, Michael Sanft, Fiore opted for a speedy trial. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorse in Las Vegas scheduled jury selection to commence on September 24, with the trial expected to conclude by the second week of October.
Fiore declined to comment on the case, and neither she nor her attorney engaged with reporters. She was accompanied by Sigal Chattah, a friend and attorney who also ran for state attorney general in 2022 as a conservative GOP candidate. Chattah is representing one of six Nevada Republican party members involved in a case regarding the submission of false certificates to Congress declaring Donald Trump as the winner of the state’s 2020 presidential election.
Michele Fiore, aged 54, is widely recognized for her support of gun ownership and her involvement in advocating for states’ rights. Known to be outspoken, Fiore backed states’ rights advocate Cliven Bundy during armed standoffs against federal officers in Nevada in 2014 and at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016. She was appointed as a judge in 2022 after losing the state treasurer race and won an election to fill an unexpired judicial term in Pahrump, located an hour’s drive west of Las Vegas.
Fiore served in the state Legislature from 2012 to 2016, gaining attention for posing with guns and her family in Christmas cards in 2015. Following her time in the legislature, she served as a Las Vegas councilwoman from 2017 to 2022.
