Federal charges filed against ex-wife of former Pacific Grove police commander

The ex-wife of a former Pacific Grove police commander is now facing federal charges for illegal wiretapping.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday that Kristin Nyunt has been charged with two counts of illegal wiretapping and the possession of illegal interception devices.

(Click here to view the complaint.)

According to prosecutors, Nyunt is alleged to have intercepted communications, including sensitive law enforcement communications, fbetween 2010 and 2012. They say the 40-year-old Monterey County woman used “spy software” that she secretly installed on the mobile phone of a police officer.

She’s also accused of illegally possessing interception devices, namely spy software including Mobistealth, StealthGenie, and mSpy, knowing that the design of those products renders them primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of wire, oral, and electronic communications.

In September, Nyunt was sentenced in Monterey County Superior Court to eight years in prison for committing widespread identity theft. She pleaded guilty earlier this year to burglary, forgery, identity theft and computer network fraud. Those were state charges; these latest allegations are at the federal level.

Nyunt is the ex-wife of former Pacific Grove police commander John Nyunt, who also was charged in connection with his former spouse’s crimes. Nyunt was hit with both state and federal charges for what prosecutors said was aiding and abetting Kristin Nyunt in committing identity fraud. He was convicted of helping her access private police records and trying to cover up her crimes. He is currently serving a three-year prisons sentence.

In this new federal case, Kristin Nyunt is scheduled to appear in court in San Jose on Oct. 23. If convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine for each violation.