Ketchikan Man Convicted of Assault on a Federal Officer

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that on March 6, 2014, a jury of eight men and four women found Jon William Munhoven guilty of assault on a federal officer.

Munhoven, 56, was tried before U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess in Juneau, Alaska.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack S. Schmidt and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lieutenant Commander Stanley P. Fields, who jointly prosecuted the case, the evidence presented at trial established that on September 2, 2013, the United States Coast Guard at Coast Guard Station Ketchikan dispatched six personnel in a 25-foot Response Boat Small (RBS) in response to a call for help from a mariner who had been assaulted on his vessel.  After travelling through thick fog, the RBS crew arrived at the vessel and contacted the mariner who had called for help, as well as a female passenger and Jon William Munhoven.  The mariner had a bloody nose and described being hit by Munhoven.  Munhoven was irate and hostile when the Coast Guard Boarding Team initially contacted him and they ordered him to disembark the mariner’s vessel. 

Munhoven was placed in handcuffs and sat on the aft deck box of the RBS.  Munhoven refused to listen to directions from the U.S. Coast Guard Boarding Team, and then started to actively resist the Coast Guard personnel.  The Boarding Team placed Munhoven on the back deck in order to control his movements and for his own safety and the safety of the crew.  During this time, Munhoven intentionally kicked one of the U.S. Coast Guard Boarding Team members in the face with a shod foot, using it as a dangerous weapon and causing bodily injury to the Coast Guard crew member.       

Judge Burgess scheduled sentencing for June 23, 2013, at 3:30 p.m. in Juneau.  The law provides for a sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

           Ms. Loeffler commended the United States Coast Guard 17th District Legal Office, United States Coast Guard Investigative Service (USCGIS), and the Ketchikan Police Department for the investigation leading to the prosecution of Munhoven.