Trump Pardons Disgraced Politician Who Used Money Raised For Slain Police Officers to Pay for Plastic Surgery

President Donald Trump has issued a full and unconditional pardon for a former Las Vegas City Councilwoman just weeks before she was scheduled for sentencing on multiple federal fraud convictions.

Michele Fiore was convicted in October of last year of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

A federal jury found that Fiore solicited donations she said would go toward a memorial statue honoring slain Las Vegas police officers but used the funds for, among other things, plastic surgery.

Fiore also used the donation funds to pay for her basic living expenses and to fund her daughter’s wedding, according to KLAS-TV.

The pardon, which was signed on Wednesday, was revealed in a court filing shortly after she announced it in a Facebook post on Thursday.

“Today, I stand before you — not just as a free woman, but as a vindicated soul,” Fiore wrote.

That post was later taken down, but it was archived by The Nevada Independent.

Fiore had been scheduled to be sentenced on May 14. Each count of wire fraud carried a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The criminal case stemmed from Fiore’s fundraising efforts in 2019 and 2020 for a statue to honor Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo, who were killed in the line of duty in 2014.

Federal prosecutors said Fiore told donors, including then-Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, Nevada’s current Republican governor, that the money would fund the statue.

Court records showed a private development firm actually paid for the statue. Prosecutors presented evidence that none of the donations Fiore raised went toward the project.

Jurors deliberated for less than two hours following an eight-day trial at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas.

Following her conviction, Fiore unsuccessfully sought a new trial. She had been suspended from her post as a Nye County justice court judge in July 2024 and said Thursday she intends to return to the bench.

The Trump administration has not commented on the pardon.