Former Las Vegas city councilwoman and Nevada state lawmaker Michele Fiore has received a full pardon from President Donald Trump, despite being convicted of federal wire fraud charges tied to misusing funds meant to honor a slain police officer.

Fiore, a loyal Trump ally and former 2022 state treasurer candidate, was found guilty last October of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. She had been awaiting sentencing next month and faced decades in prison for misappropriating more than $70,000 raised for a statue memorializing a Las Vegas police officer killed in 2014.

Instead, prosecutors said Fiore used the donations to cover cosmetic surgery, rent, and her daughter’s wedding expenses.

“Michele Fiore used a tragedy to line her pockets,” federal prosecutor Dahoud Askar said during her trial.

Trump Pardons Fiore Amid Fallout

The White House confirmed Fiore’s pardon on Thursday but offered no comment explaining the decision. In a Facebook post, Fiore claimed she was the victim of a decade-long conspiracy orchestrated by the federal government and “select media outlets” to destroy her career.

The pardon comes just days after a judge rejected her request for a new trial, leaving Fiore facing imminent sentencing before Trump intervened.

Fiore’s Controversial Path Back to the Bench

Fiore, who has no law degree, was appointed as a judge in Nye County, Nevada — a deep-red jurisdiction west of Las Vegas — in 2022 after losing her statewide election. She was later elected to finish the term of a deceased judge but was suspended without pay amid her legal troubles.

In her Facebook statement, Fiore announced plans to return to the bench next week, pending updates from the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline, which confirmed it is reviewing her case post-pardon.

Democrats, Law Enforcement Leaders Slam the Pardon

Nevada Democratic Party Executive Director Hilary Barrett blasted the pardon as a “reckless” move and a “slap in the face” to law enforcement officers who trusted Fiore to honor one of their own.

Fiore rose to national attention years earlier through her outspoken defense of rancher Cliven Bundy during the 2014 armed standoff with federal agents in Bunkerville, Nevada, and later at the 2016 occupation of Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Despite her legal battles, Fiore remains a significant — and divisive — figure in Nevada’s right-wing political landscape.