Suspended Pahrump Justice of the Peace Michele Fiore is seeking to dismiss judicial discipline charges filed against her, arguing that those charges improperly rely on conduct that predates her time as a judge.
Fiore, a former Las Vegas councilwoman, was pardoned by President Donald Trump in April 2025 after federal jurors found her guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud charges in 2024.
Federal prosecutors said she raised tens of thousands of dollars for a statue honoring Metropolitan Police Department officer Alyn Beck, who was shot and killed with his partner in 2014.
The statue was built, but it was paid for by developer Olympia Companies, according to trial testimony. Fiore spent the donations on personal expenses: rent, plastic surgery and her daughter’s wedding, prosecutors said.
Though the pardon saved Fiore from being sentenced, formally convicted or ordered to pay restitution to the donors she was accused of defrauding, it did not return her to the bench.
Fiore was suspended from her judicial position during the criminal case and continues to be suspended.
In April, the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline charged her with violating judicial conduct rules based on her actions related to the statue scheme and the jury’s verdict against her.
Those charges came after the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the suspension of Fiore.
“Judge Fiore’s ongoing wrongful retention of the donations and unjust enrichment creates in reasonable minds a perception that Judge Fiore’s honesty, impartiality, temperament or fitness to serve as a judge is adversely affected,” wrote Thomas Donaldson, a special counsel for the commission.
Fiore’s attorney, Paola Armeni, is pushing back.
“The disciplinary commission is charged with upholding the rule of law,” she wrote in the motion, which she said she submitted Friday. “As such, it cannot base its actions on personal beliefs, selectively manipulate its own rules, or expand its authority in an active attempt to override the legal effect of a Presidential Pardon, the will of the citizens of Nye County who elected Judge Fiore, and the intentions of the subject donors themselves.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.
Michele Fiore – Motion to Dismiss by Tony Garcia
