When Joe Lombardo donated $5,000 from his campaign account to a political action committee, the future governor thought he was helping pay for a statue of a fallen Las Vegas police officer.

Instead, the money was used by former Las Vegas Councilwoman Michele Fiore to pay rent. Fiore was recently convicted of wire fraud for diverting contributions for personal use, although donations like Lombardo’s, which came to light during the Fiore trial, are perfectly legal in Nevada.

Political candidates in Nevada can spend campaign money to pay for staff, travel, advertising, surveys, and the like. Under state law, they can also contribute to other candidates or political action committees, as Lombardo did when he donated money to Fiore’s Future for Nevadans PAC.

Nevada politicians can return unspent campaign contributions to donors, but are not required to do so. They can spend this leftover money on their next election if they won the previous race, or they can send it to a political party, nonprofit groups, government agencies, or other candidates’ campaigns. state law says.

However, they cannot use political contributions to pay personal expenses, pay themselves a salary or pay a court judgment, state law shows.

personal expenses

Las Vegas attorney Bradley Schrager, whose practice areas include election law and campaign finance, said campaign funds can only be used as part of your election career or the duties of your office.

Nevada campaign law does not give specific examples of prohibited “personal use” expenditures. But it defines the term as the use of contributions to pay for an expense that would exist “independently” of the candidate’s candidacy for office.

State lawmakers intended to “ban” the spending of campaign money on personal and household goods, such as food, clothing, rent and utilities, according to Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar. officewhich oversees state and local elections.

A federal grand jury accused Fiore this summer under accusations that he solicited tens of thousands of dollars to fund a statue of Metro Police Officer Alyn Beck, who was killed with his partner, Officer Igor Soldo, in a 2014 attack. ambushbut he spent the money on her and his daughter’s wedding instead of the statue.

Fiore pleaded not guilty and his lawyer described Fiore’s actions are “careless but not criminal.”

Prosecutors also alleged in a court filing in the case that Fiore repeatedly defrauded donors to his campaigns, political action committee and charity by “secretly diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions” for personal use, including plastic surgery. and vacations.

Governor testifies

Lombardo was not identified by name in Fiore’s indictment, which said a donor, described only as a “public official” in Nevada, donated $5,000 to his political action committee on July 16, 2019 to help fund the Beck statue. According to the indictment, Fiore transferred that exact sum that same day to another account and used it to purchase money orders to pay rent.

State records show entity named Lombardo for Sheriff gave $5,000 on July 16, 2019 to Fiore’s political action committee.

Lombardo, who was elected governor of Nevada in 2022 and made the donation when he was sheriff of Clark County, took the witness stand at Fiore’s trial on September 30. He called himself a victim and witness in the case and said the donation came from his campaign account, not his personal funds.

Fiore was found guilty on Oct. 3 of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge. prosecutors said.

After his conviction, Fiore was suspended without pay from his most recent position as justice of the peace in Pahrump.

Contact Eli Segall at [email protected] or 702-383-0342.