Nevada — A federal judge in Nevada has denied a request for a new trial by a former Las Vegas councilwoman known as “Lady Trump,” who was convicted of “fleecing” the community by pocketing more than $50,000 in a scheme to defraud donors to a charity honouring a police officer killed in the line of duty, using the money for personal goods and services.
Michele Fiore, a justice of the peace when she was initially indicted by federal authorities in July 2024 on six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, filed the request on Friday, which was denied by U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Dorsey. She was convicted of all seven charges after an eight-day trial in October 2024 and is set to be sentenced next month.
Jurors discovered that while Fiore was still a member of the city council, she solicited donations to build a statue honouring Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Alyn Beck, who was killed while on duty on June 18, 2014. Her solicitations allegedly included the promise that “100% of the contributions” would go towards the creation of the statue.
While the statue is located in a flower bed near the entrance to Officer Alyn Beck Memorial Park in Las Vegas, it was not funded by the former GOP gubernatorial candidate. Instead, prosecutors claim she converted all of the money—more than $70,000—to cash and money orders, which she used “for her own personal benefit.”
Following her conviction, Fiore hired a new attorney, who filed motions for acquittal and a new trial on her behalf. In her new trial motion, she argued that a series of events resulted in prejudicial errors, justifying a clean slate and a new trial.
Fiore’s claim was based primarily on the fact that testimony from her daughter and business partner, Sheena Siegel, was removed from the record after she allegedly incriminated herself on the stand, hired a lawyer, and then invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege.
She also claimed that there was insufficient evidence to support her conviction and that she received ineffective legal counsel.
However, Dorsey determined that there was enough evidence to conclude that Fiore “never intended” to save donor funds to pay for the statue, but rather “deceived her donors so that she would have cash on hand.”
“[T]he jury heard from a veritable who’s who of Nevada business and politics, who wrote checks to Fiore’s charitable organisation or her political action committee in reliance on her promise that 100% of the donations would be used to fund the statue,” Dorsey wrote on the order’s 77 pages.
“But the evidence showed that the statue was paid for by a development company, and none of the funds raised by Fiore were used for this purpose. Instead, each check was quickly converted to cash and used for Fiore’s personal expenses, such as rent, cosmetic procedures, and her daughter’s wedding.
Fiore’s new defence attorney, Paola Armeni, told The Nevada Independent on Friday that she and her client were “extremely disappointed” by Dorsey’s decision, and that they “truly believe” Fiore was denied a fair trial.
“At this time, we will prepare for sentencing and thereafter Ms. Fiore will exercise her full appellate rights,” she shared with the media.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of twenty years in federal prison.
