Ketchikan Resident Sentenced to Prison for Assault on Federal Officer

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a Ketchikan resident was sentenced in federal court in Juneau for assault on a federal officer.

Jon William Munhoven, 57, a resident of Ketchikan, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess to 48 months of incarceration and three years of supervised release.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack S. Schmidt and Special Assistant United States Attorney Lt. Cmdr. Stanley P. Fields, who jointly prosecuted the case, on September 2, 2013, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) 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 contacted the mariner who had a bloody nose, a female passenger, and Jon William Munhoven.  Munhoven was irate and hostile during the initial contact and was ordered to disembark the mariner’s vessel by the USCG Boarding Team.  Munhoven was placed in handcuffs and seated on the aft deck box of the RBS.  Munhoven refused to listen to the instructions of the USCG Boarding Team and would not calm down.  He then became actively resistant to the USCG Boarding Team.  As the members of the boarding team were attempting to safely control Munhoeven, he intentionally kicked one of the USCG Boarding Team Members in the face with a shod foot, using it as a dangerous weapon and causing bodily injury to the USCG Boarding Team Member.

Judge Burgess noted the seriousness of the offense, defendant’s extensive violent criminal history that included numerous felony and misdemeanor assaults, sexual assaults, robbery, and menacing with a firearm, and deterrence of the defendant and others as reasons for the sentence imposed.

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