President Donald Trump pardoned Nevada Republican politician Michele Fiore who was convicted for fraud after prosecutors claimed she used money raised for a fallen police officer’s memorial for personal use.
An active and unapologetic Trump supporter, Fiore’s career included serving as a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and state lawmaker and rose through the Nevada Republican party despite a long history of controversial news coverage.
In 2014, she raised tens of thousands of dollars through a charity and political action committee for a statue honoring Metropolitan Police Department officer Alyn Beck, who was shot and killed in the line of duty.
In 2024, Fiore was found guilty of six counts of federal wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after she used the money raised for the memorial for plastic surgery, rent, and payments on her daughter’s wedding.
She was suspended in July 2024 from her position as justice court judge in Nye County after her conviction.
Nevada Judge Jennifer Dorsey wrote in her opinion that ‘not a dime’ of the money raised was used for a memorial.
‘Instead, each check was quickly converted to cash and spent on Fiore’s expenses like rent, cosmetic procedures, and her daughter’s wedding,’ Dorsey wrote.
Fiore’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing a pardon granted by President Trump on April 23, 2025.
Fiore celebrated the news in a lengthy post on Facebook.
‘Today, I stand before you — not just as a free woman, but as a vindicated soul whose prayers were heard, whose faith held firm, and whose truth could not be buried by injustice,’ she wrote, citing Isaiah 54:17 in the Bible declaring that ‘no weapon formed against me shall prosper.’
The court found Fiore guilty of converting donation checks to cash and then spending it on personal use.
Fiore was facing a sentencing hearing on May 14, but was pardoned before it took place.
‘I am deeply and eternally grateful to President Donald J. Trump for granting me a full and unconditional pardon,’ she wrote on Facebook.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford condemned the president’s pardon in a statement.
‘Donald Trump’s blatant disregard for law enforcement is sickening, and pardoning someone who stole from a police memorial fund is a disgrace,’ he wrote. ‘As Nevada’s top cop, I believe there’s no room for reprieve when it comes to betraying the families of fallen officers. I will continue to stand with our men and women in uniform.’
Fiore claimed she was unfairly targeted by her political opponents for ‘destruction.’
‘For nearly a decade, I endured relentless persecution by a federal machine determined to break me,’ she wrote, listing the many investigations and accusations against her character.
‘Through it all — I never stopped praying. I meditated, I cried out, and I trusted in God’s justice,’ she said.
Fiore blamed attorney Steven Myhre for singling her out for legal persecution.
‘He pursued this vengeance for years, misusing the power of his office to fulfill a vendetta. However Steve, I am not going to prison. I am preparing to return to the bench,’ she said.
She announced she would return to her position as a county judge after her pardon.
‘On Monday, I will walk back into my courtroom as the elected Justice of the Peace — not because man permitted it, but because God ordained it,’ she said. ‘To those who weaponized the justice system against me: I don’t need to return fire. The truth already has.’
In 2021, she ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor launching her campaign with an ad of her toting a handgun and boasting she was attacked by the media as ‘a gun toting calendar girl’ and a ‘lady Trump.’
In 2022, Michele Fiore was reprimanded for a physical fight with fellow councilwoman Victoria Seaman, who claimed she broke her finger and pulled her hair as she tried to throw her to the floor.
She also made headlines for her support of the Second Amendment, posing frequently for photos with guns and including them on her Christmas cards and calendars that she offered for sale to supporters.