PACIFIC GROVE – A former Pacific Grove police commander convicted of extortion, fraud and making criminal threats pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a new charge of possessing stolen firearms.

John Nyunt admitted to stealing large numbers of assault rifles, shotguns and semi-automatic pistols that Monterey Peninsula College was getting rid of after closing its police academy, where Nyunt was an instructor. He could spend more than two years in federal prison.

FBI agents alleged that college officials asked Nyunt if the Pacific Grove Police Department would accept the weapons as a donation.

Nyunt signed a memorandum of understanding with the college that falsely stated he was accepting the firearms on the department’s behalf, the prosecutors said.

Sometime around August 2009, officials said, Nyunt consigned 27 Glock semi-automatic pistols, five Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistols and other weapons to a firearms dealer, who offered them for sale on Nyunt’s behalf. The dealer gave Nyunt the proceeds from the sales, minus a commission.

Nyunt took back five of the Glocks and sold or gave them to other people. The last of the weapons was given away or sold in November 2012, federal officials said.

Nyunt has already pleaded guilty to felony charges in two other cases.

In Monterey County Superior Court, he admitted making criminal threats against his then-wife, Kristin Nyunt. While investigating Kristin Nyunt for identity theft and other charges, prosecutors discovered a secret recording she made in which her husband threatened to kill her and any police officers who tried to arrest him.

John Nyunt pleaded guilty in Monterey County in April to one count of threatening a witness, one count of being an accessory after the fact to theft and burglary, and one count of being an accomplice to the burglary of a business.

Soon after, he admitted in federal court to extortion and fraud charges in connection with the scheme in which his former wife was also convicted in Monterey County and federal court. She is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 23, 2015 in San Jose’s federal courthouse.

According to the FBI, John Nyunt failed to officially investigate a Pacific Grove police complaint by a crime victim and instead charged the woman $10,000 for the services of a phony investigations company run by him and his wife.

In pre-arranged plea deals, he has agreed to be sentenced for all three cases in federal court on April 7, 2015. According to plea agreement terms, he will spend two years and six months in federal prison.