Trump Pardons Nevada Politician Michele Fiore Weeks Before Sentencing Date

Court filings from her lawyers included a copy of the president’s pardon.

Michele Fiore participates in a debate in Henderson, Nev., April 26, 2016. John Locher/AP Photo

President Donald Trump has pardoned a Nevada Republican politician who was awaiting sentencing on federal charges, according to court documents filed in her case and the White House.

Trump pardoned Michele Fiore this week, according to court filings submitted by her attorneys on Thursday in a bid to vacate a sentencing date in the case. Her sentencing was set for May 14, but her lawyers said that due to Trump’s pardon, it should be scrapped.

The pardon that was signed by Trump was also posted to Fiore’s court docket on Thursday, which said that he provided her with an “executive grant of clemency” and “a full and unconditional pardon.”

Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman and state lawmaker who ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for state treasurer, was found guilty in October of six counts of federal wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was out of custody ahead of her sentencing, which had been scheduled for next month.

A White House official confirmed the pardon to The Epoch Times on Friday morning, characterizing the prosecution against Fiore as unfair and also confirming it was a full and unconditional pardon.

“Due to her outspoken conservative views, she became a target and incurred government investigation and prosecution. She was convicted of wire fraud, but now she has received a pardon,” the official said.

The Epoch Times also contacted Fiore for comment. In a statement posted on social media, she confirmed the pardon was granted and that she now stands “as a free woman” and as a “vindicated soul whose prayers were heard, whose faith held firm, and whose truth could not be buried by injustice.”

“This act of mercy is not just a correction of a legal record—it is the restoration of a life, a reputation, and a mission long targeted for destruction,” she said.

The pardon means Fiore evades a potentially decades-long sentence in federal prison. She was convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud for executing a scheme to defraud charitable donors, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“The evidence at trial demonstrated that Fiore promised donors that ‘100% of the contributions’ would be used towards the construction of memorials for the fallen officers,” an October 2024 DOJ statement said. “However, Fiore did not use any of the more than $70,000 in charitable donations she raised for the memorials. Instead, Fiore spent the money donated by the victims on a variety of personal and political expenses, including political fundraising bills, personal rent payments, and payments to family members.”

Federal prosecutors said at trial that Fiore, 54, had raised more than $70,000 for the statue of a Las Vegas police officer who was fatally shot in 2014 in the line of duty, but had instead spent some of it on cosmetic surgery, rent, and her daughter’s wedding.

In her statement that was posted on social media, Fiore characterized the trial and prosecution as part of a longstanding, politicized effort by federal prosecutors to target her. One prosecutor, she claimed, was acting on a personal vendetta against her and “pursued this vengeance for years, misusing the power of his office to fulfill” it, she said.

Fiore was appointed as a judge in Nye County in 2022 shortly after she lost her campaign for state treasurer. She was elected last June to complete the unexpired term of a judge who died, but she had been suspended due to her legal troubles.

Fiore served in the Nevada state Legislature from 2012 to 2016. She was a Las Vegas councilwoman from 2017 to 2022.

Trump’s pardon comes less than a week after Fiore lost a bid for a new trial, according to a judge’s order.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.