Disciplinary proceedings against Michele Fiore temporarily halted

The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday intervened to temporarily stop disciplinary proceedings from moving forward against embattled Pahrump Justice of the Peace Michele Fiore.

In a two-page order, justices granted an emergency stay against the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline’s proceedings against Fiore pending the outcome of a challenge filed by her attorneys June 16. The court also ordered the commission to answer why it has jurisdiction to move forward with a formal complaint against Fiore and gave the body 28 days to compel a response.

Fiore and her attorneys will then have 14 days after the commission answers the court to reply, according to the order. In a statement, attorney Paola Armeni, who is representing Fiore, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal justices made the right call.

“Jurisdiction is pivotal in determining whether the Commission can even discipline Judge Fiore,” Armeni said in a text message. “So the stay allows this pivotal decision to be made before the Commission attempts to discipline the Judge. The cart can’t come before the horse.”

A spokesperson for the commission could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fiore, who was elected to her post in June 2023, was issued a full and unconditional pardon by President Donald Trump on April 23 after a federal jury in October found Fiore guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud charges. Prosecutors in that case said the former Las Vegas councilwoman defrauded donors out of tens of thousands of dollars that were raised from 2019 to 2020 to build a statue of Metropolitan Police Department officer who died in 2014. Those charges were officially vacated ahead of a May 14 sentencing.

A statue for officer Alyn Beck was eventually built, but it was paid for by developer Olympia Cos., according to trial testimony. Prosecutors say Fiore spent the proceeds on personal expenses including plastic surgery, rent and her daughter’s wedding.

On May 19, the commission decided to suspend Fiore indefinitely with pay until a final ruling can be made in other complaints against her — including the one central to this dispute. Although Fiore’s attorneys have argued her conduct predate her time as Pahrump’s Justice of the Peace and should not disqualify her from judgeship, the commission said Fiore has provided no evidence to suggest she has paid back or intends to pay back the defrauded victims.

That so-called “continuing deceit” of those who donated to the statue, along with her “unjust enrichment at the expense” of the statue harms the public’s perception of the judicial system, the commission wrote. Fiore’s pardon from Trump also “undermines her ability to impose justice and to apply the law fairly,” according to the commission. Fiore has since moved to appeal her suspension.

Armeni said Fiore received the commission’s formal complaint in June and was given until July 10 to respond. But doing so would have presented Fiore with a “Catch-22” decision, according to the emergency motion filed on June 26 by her attorneys.

“If she responds to the Complaint to avoid the equivalent of a default discipline, then she must provide documents and argument despite having received a full Presidential Pardon,” the motion states. “If she does not respond to the Complaint, then her failure constitutes an admission that the facts alleged in the complaint are true and establish grounds for discipline … including removal and public censure, despite the pending Writ Petition challenging the Commission’s jurisdiction to impose discipline.”

Experts told the Review-Journal in June that Trump’s pardon of Fiore likely saved her from having to pay restitution to the people she was found guilty of defrauding. Prosecutors said Fiore ultimately raised about $70,000.

While some donors contacted by the Review-Journal for a June 8 article said that Fiore should have paid restitution, others said they were simply pleased to see the statue was completed. Armeni previously told the newspaper the donors were largely Fiore supporters and that nobody has requested to be reimbursed.

“Nobody ever complained, and nobody ever asked for their money back,” Armeni said.

Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X. or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky. Review-Journal staff writer Noble Brigham contributed to this report.