Former Las Vegas councilor asks for new trial after wire fraud conviction

(CN) — Former Las Vegas council member and Nye County justice of the peace Michele Fiore attempted to overcome her wire fraud convictions in Monday hearing and asked a federal judge to grant her a new trial.

A jury convicted Fiore of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October. The former councilor was accused of pocketing funds meant for a memorial statue to slain police officers and using the money for personal expenses like rent, travel and her daughter’s wedding.

Fiore argued in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey that prosecutors failed to meet their legal burden. Additionally, she said should receive a new trial because of a series of errors that occurred, including missteps made by her then-attorney.

“Here, the use of the wire to further the scheme cannot be shown,” Fiore wrote in her motion. “First, Ms. Fiore had no personal knowledge that a wire would be utilized in her banking."

“More importantly, the facts here don’t support that the wires (clearing of the checks) was in furtherance of the alleged scheme,” she added.

Also, Fiore argued someone must deceive and cheat to be convicted of wire fraud. Four of the checks involved, meaning four criminal counts, were made before a change in who would fund the statue. At that time, the city still intended to pay for half the costs, meaning Fiore deceived no one when asking for those donations.

Sheena Siegel, Fiore’s daughter, plays a large role in the former councilwoman’s motion for a new trial.

Fiore argued that the U.S. Attorney’s Office granted Siegel testimonial immunity — an agreement later withdrawn, forcing Siegel to invoke her Fifth Amendment right. The judge later struck Siegel’s testimony, which Fiore called extremely prejudicial.

“It was for the first time that they actually did show her a check so she could see what the issue was,” said Paola Armeni, Fiore’s attorney. “It says it was the indication of the Fifth Amendment good faith report. It wasn’t good faith because the government could not unilaterally determine there was a breach.”

“Ms. Siegel supported Ms. Fiore’s theory of defense,” Fiore wrote in the motion. “She could establish that monies collected were in fact utilized for charitable events in contradiction to the government’s position that all money was used for personal reasons.”

Additionally, prosecutors only pointed to Siegel as a co-conspirator when they knew she’d invoke the Fifth Amendment in front of jurors, Fiore added.

Attorney Dahoud Askar, with the U.S. Department of Justice, said Monday that Fiore has made inconsistent statements.

He pointed to testimony from Siegel, who said a particular check’s signature could have been either her mother’s or her own.

“The only difference was in front of the jury, for the first time in testimony, actually showed [Fiore] a check, and at that point she looked at the check and testified how she did [sign it], so she wasn’t consistent,” Askar said.

According to prosecutors, Fiore told donors to write checks to a bank account that she controlled. She or another person would collect the checks. Fiore then concealed the fraudulently gained money by transferring it from a political action committee and charity’s bank accounts to accounts controlled by her and others.

“I argue actually that the government had quite a bit of evidence that Ms. Fiore cashed checks from Ms. Fiore’s personal account, charity account,” Askar said.

Fiore in court documents also pointed to her trial attorney being ineffective. She claims her trial attorney, Michael Sanft, failed to file motions to dismiss and suppress, didn’t object to certain witnesses and introduced no exculpatory evidence.

She said Sanft, who later withdrew from the case, could have shown the jury that Fiore often handled cash in her transactions, income that was separate from what she gained from various state jobs. Her tax returns, part of discovery, would have shown those other sources of income, she claimed.

Initially set for Monday, Fiore’s sentencing is now set for April 14, giving Dorsey time to resolve the motions. The judge could postpone it again, to late April, if needed.

A firebrand in Nevada politics, Fiore, a Republican, is known for making controversial remarks that have angered both allies and opponents. Fiore was a Las Vegas city councilor from 2017 to 2022 and was also a Republican National Committee member. She was suspended as Nye County justice of the peace in July 2024 after her grand jury indictment.