LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld an interim suspension for Pahrump Justice of the Peace Michele Fiore as she faces an investigation into complaints of possible misconduct.
In a unanimous ruling filed Friday, the high court said Fiore’s challenge is moot because the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline is still investigating the complaints against her, and hasn’t imposed any official punishment or filed formal charges.
“We conclude Judge Fiore has not demonstrated the Commission abused its discretion in determining that an interim suspension was warranted,” the ruling states.
The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline suspended Fiore after a jury found her guilty in a 2024 federal trial on six counts of wire fraud and a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Prosecutors alleged that she solicited donations on the premise that they would go toward statues of two fallen Las Vegas police officers while she was a city councilwoman, but instead used the money on personal expenses, including plastic surgery and her daughter’s wedding.
Fiore, who denied the allegations, received a pardon from President Donald Trump last year. She filed for re-election in January.
The Judicial Discipline Commission kept her suspension in place with pay, writing that Trump’s pardon did not preclude it “from considering a judge’s ongoing conduct.”
Fiore filed a petition with the high court challenging the commission’s jurisdiction to discipline her for conduct from before she became a justice of the peace, though the commission says it “based the suspension on an allegation that Judge Fiore has engaged in misconduct during her time as a judicial officer,” according to the Supreme Court.
In a statement released Friday, Fiore said she was willing to wait for the commission’s investigation to play out.
“While we are disappointed the Supremes chose not to address those issues now, this is not the end of the fight, it is simply the next step,” Fiore’s statement reads.