Ex-councilwoman known as 'Lady Trump' accused of defrauding charity for slain officers to pay for daughter's wedding

Michele Fiore in ad during her campaign to become the Republican nominee for governor of Nevada (YouTube screenshot)

A former city councilwoman in Las Vegas is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly running a scheme to defraud donors to a charity for memorializing a police officer who lost his life in the line of duty, using the money to travel and pay for her daughter’s wedding.

Michele Fiore, 53, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, authorities announced. If convicted, the former Republican gubernatorial candidate previously referred to as “ Lady Trump ” faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in a federal correctional facility on each count.

According to a news release from the Justice Department, when Fiore was still a member of the city council, she solicited donations to build the statue honoring Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Alyn Beck who was killed while on the job on June 18, 2014. Her solicitations allegedly included a promise that “100% of the contributions” would be put toward the creation of the statue.

However, prosecutors say that Fiore “did not use any of the tens of thousands of dollars in charitable donations for the statue of the fallen officers.” Instead, she allegedly converted all of the money — more than $70,000 — “for her own personal benefit.”

“The donations were used to pay her political fundraising bills and rent and were transferred to family members, including to pay for her daughter’s wedding,” the release states.

According to the indictment, the basis for the alleged scheme dates back to December 2018, when the city broke ground on Alyn Beck Memorial Park and Fiore proposed the creation of a statue of Beck that would be erected at the entrance of the park. The construction of the park was paid for by a private real estate development company identified in the indictment as “Company A.”

Company A in August 2019 entered into a purchase contract with the sculptor who created the statue to pay for the statue, installation, and shipping, prosecutors said.

“Fiore was aware from her role as a City Councilwoman involved in the planning of Alyn Beck Memorial Park that Company A had agreed to pay for the statue,” the indictment states. “In January 2020, at a meeting in Fiore’s office prior to the unveiling ceremony, Fiore falsely told the sculptor who created the Alyn Beck Statue that she had appropriated! discretionary funds through the City of Las Vegas to pay for the Alyn Beck Statue.”

But prosecutors allege that since “at least as early as July 2019,” Fiore was soliciting charitable donations under false pretenses for the creation of the statue. Such solicitation allegedly continued until about January 2020.

Fiore previously made headlines in 2014, when she went to Cliven Bundy’s ranch in Nevada during his militia’s standoff with federal agents, and referred to Bundy and his men as “freedom fighters,” The Guardian reported . While there, she reportedly put out a call for the federal agents “not to obey your superiors when given a direct order to attack your fellow Americans fighting for the freedoms granted to us by our constitution.”

A staunchly pro-gun advocate, Fiore also sparked controversy when she posted an eyebrow-raising family Christmas card in December 2015 in which she and her family — including a small child — are all holding firearms.

Michele Fiore’s 2015 Christmas card (Facebook)

The post Ex-councilwoman known as ‘Lady Trump’ accused of defrauding charity for slain officers to pay for daughter’s wedding first appeared on Law & Crime .