Michele Fiore likely to see prison time in wire fraud case, attorneys say

Former City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, recently convicted of wire fraud by a federal jury, is not likely to see significant prison time, attorneys say.

Federal judges must consider sentencing guidelines when determining how long a defendant will be sentenced to prison, or if they will receive probation. Although federal wire fraud comes with a maximum term of 20 years in prison per count, Fiore’s sentence will likely be brought down due to other factors, such as her lack of criminal history.

District Judge Jennifer Dorsey will also be able to use her discretion when deciding the sentence, attorneys said.

“The big negative for her is she went to trial and was so adamant she did nothing wrong,” said local defense attorney Chris Rasmussen.

Attorney Christopher Oram agreed that when a defendant insists on going to trial, “a lot of times you get a much harsher penalty.”

Oram said that although a defendant has the right to go to trial, the judge can factor in “acceptance of responsibility” during a sentencing hearing. If a defendant admits to a crime, they can get a few points knocked off their overall sentencing “offense level” — the formula judges use to determine recommended sentences.

“She’s going to do time, in my opinion,” said local defense attorney Jess Marchese. “She would have been better off taking a negotiation and just falling on the sword.”

A jury found Fiore guilty Oct. 3 of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors had accused her of raising tens of thousands of dollars through her charity and political action committee for a statue honoring Metropolitan Police Department officer Alyn Beck, who was shot and killed with her partner in 2014.

Fiore has said she intends to appeal the case, which cannot happen until after she is sentenced. The judge has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 6.

Prosecutors questioned a number of high-profile witnesses during trial who said they had donated money to Fiore, including Gov. Joe Lombardo.

Instead of using the money for the statue, Fiore was accused of spending donations on personal expenses such as rent, plastic surgery and payments for her daughter’s wedding.

Michael Sanft, Fiore’s defense attorney during the trial, filed court documents to be removed from the case before sentencing.

“I think she thinks that it’s in her best interest to have another point of view in regards to the sentencing portion,” Sanft told the Review-Journal.

The court has since appointed attorney Paola Armeni to represent Fiore, court records show. Armeni declined to comment on the case on Friday.

Much of Fiore’s sentence will be dictated by how much money she was accused of defrauding, and less than $100,000 is a relatively low amount of loss in a federal case, attorneys said.

“She’s not looking at a lot of time, just because the loss is so small,” Rasmussen said.

At trial, prosecutors argued that Fiore raised more than $70,000 for the creation of the statue honoring Beck, but made no payments toward the memorial while she was a city councilwoman. Fiore has most recently served as a justice of the peace in Pahrump.

The statue’s sculptor, Brian Hanlon, testified that he received no payments from Fiore. The statue was instead paid for by Olympia Companies, which developed the Alyn Beck Memorial Park as part of the Skye Canyon planned community.

Rasmussen said attorneys will have a wide range of factors to present at a sentencing hearing that could affect the judge’s decision. Fiore’s lack of criminal history will be a major factor at her sentencing, he said.

“My guess is that she’s going to get every credit you can possibly get afforded to her, because I think she’s lived a pretty non-criminal life,” Rasmussen said.

Other factors that help judges calculate a defendant’s offense include the number of victims who were defrauded, and if the defendant misrepresented that they were acting on behalf of a charitable or political organization, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

If Fiore is sentenced to more than a year of prison time, she could become eligible for good behavior while in custody, which equates to 15 percent off her overall sentence, Marchese said.

Attorneys also agreed that Fiore likely would be sent to a lower security facility. In the federal system, judges can recommend which facility the defendant should serve their sentence in, but the Bureau of Prisons has the ultimate say in their placement.

“She’ll go to one of those camps where they don’t even have barbed wire, they don’t even have fences,” Marchese said. “So it won’t be quote-unquote ‘hard time.’”

The Bureau of Prisons also has the discretion to release defendants early, Rasmussen said.

“Even if she got 30 months, she’s not going to do much in custody,” he said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.