SALINAS—Monterey County District Attorney Dean D. Fippo announced that 51-year-old John Nyunt of Pacific Grove pled guilty to charges from a yearlong investigation. He pled guilty to one count of dissuading a person from reporting a crime by threat of violence and one count of being an accessory after the fact. Mr. Nyunt will serve a three-year prison sentence.
The Investigation revealed that John Nyunt, Former Commander of the Pacific Grove Police Department, knew that his wife was committing identity theft. Armed with this knowledge he ordered subordinates in the Pacific Grove Police Department to close investigations in which she was a prime suspect.
He also lied to victims by telling them that investigations were still on going, in order to protect his wife. He also provided his wife access to secured police emails and an online police database. His wife used that database to gather sensitive information and use it to commit identity theft. Her victims include other police officers and citizens throughout the state and country. She even defrauded John’s son and his ex-wife.
The Nyunt’s also started an unlicensed private investigation business, which was a violation of Pacific Grove Police Department policy. He would refer people seeking police assistance to his private business. This was a violation of federal law. Furthermore, the people that hired the Nyunts became victims from her alleged use of their information to commit identify fraud.
John Nyunt used his position as a police commander to cover up these crimes. The investigation also revealed that he embezzled police property for his own use. When his wife threatened to reveal what they had done to the district attorney’s office and his involvement, he phoned her and threatened to slit her throat during the conversation.
During his rant that was taped by his wife you can hear Nyunt proclaim that “he threatened to take an assault weapon and kill several District Attorney investigators” and then “yeah, I’m going to start killin my people first.” He went on to predict that he was going to make “national news”.
John Nyunt was sentenced to three-years in state prison. The case is not over yet, as United States Attorney Melinda Haag will also file federal charges that include extortion.
Read More:
KSBW: Ex-Pacific Grove cop Nyunt threatened to kill ex-wife
Monterey Herald: Former Pacific Grove police commander threatened to kill cops
