LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A federal District Court judge denied a former Las Vegas councilwoman’s motion for a new trial Friday, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned, endorsing the government’s case that she schemed to capitalize on a community tragedy.
Michele Fiore, a sitting — but suspended — Justice Court judge in Nye County, asked the court to grant her either an acquittal or a new trial after a jury deliberated for two hours and convicted her on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud in October 2024.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. Fiore’s sentencing is scheduled for May 14.
On June 8, 2014, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo were gunned down while they were on their lunch break in northeast Las Vegas. Fiore claimed to raise money for statues for the fallen officers, and some of the high-profile citizens from whom she collected donations were Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Local 872 union boss Tommy White, both of whom testified at trial.
The jury returned those guilty verdicts less than two hours after the case went to deliberation following an eight-day trial at the federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas. Court documents said she fleeced donors out of tens of thousands of dollars.
In court documents seeking a new trial or acquittal, Fiore claimed there was insufficient evidence to convict her. Evidence presented at trial showed that a development company paid for the statue for which Fiore claimed to be raising money, “and not a dime of the money that Fiore raised was used for that purpose,” Judge Jennifer Dorsey wrote in her opinion. “Instead, each check was quickly converted to cash and spent on Fiore’s personal expenses like rent, cosmetic procedures, and her daughter’s wedding.”
Fiore also argued in her motion that her trial attorney was ineffective, and that the trial judge should have stricken controversial testimony from Fiore’s daughter, Sheena Siegel. Siegel ultimately testified in court, invoking her constitutional right not to incriminate herself for any role she might have played in Fiore’s criminal wrongdoing.
“In sum, Fiore’s attempts to set aside the jury’s verdicts are unavailing,” Dorsey concluded.
Las Vegas attorney Michael Sanft withdrew from the case less than a week after Fiore’s conviction. Another attorney, Paola Armeni, took over as Fiore’s attorney on Oct. 15 and litigated the motion for the new trial and acquittal.
Previous attempts to reach Fiore for comment since her conviction were unsuccessful.
