A former correctional officer at the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin (FCI Dublin), where he supervised prisoners, was sentenced to 72 months in prison for sexually abusing five inmates at FCI Dublin, officials stated.
This is the seventh correctional officer to be sentenced in connection with the wide-ranging investigation into sexual abuse of the inmates in the prison.
Nakie Nunley, 48, of Fairfield, California, pleaded guilty on Sep. 5, 2023 to four counts of sexual abuse of a ward, five counts of abusive sexual contact, and one count of making false statements in connection with the investigation into abuse allegations at FCI Dublin.
In addition to admitting he was guilty of crimes related to his sexual acts and sexual contacts with five separate women, Nunley also describes in his plea agreement how he engaged in sexual acts with two other inmates and how he lied to Justice Department Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG) agents who were investigating allegations regarding his conduct.
“Nakie Nunley egregiously exploited his authority by sexually abusing multiple incarcerated women and then retaliating against those who blew the whistle,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As today’s sentence shows, the Justice Department will hold accountable officials who abuse their authority to harm those they are sworn to protect — and will not tolerate retaliation against victims.”
At the time that Nunley abused his victims, he was assigned to supervise prisoners who worked for UNICOR, a trade name for the federal prison industries.
All of Nunley’s victims worked at the UNICOR call center at the time he abused them.
According to his plea agreement, Nunley admitted that, between March 2020 and November 2021, he engaged in sexual acts with two prisoners, including having oral and vaginal sex with one victim and digitally penetrating another victim on multiple occasions.
He also admitted that he was guilty of crimes related to his illegal sexual contact with three other prisoners, according to officials.
In addition to his conduct with the five victims that resulted in criminal charges, Nunley admitted he sexually abused two additional prisoners and engaged in inappropriate conduct with multiple other prisoners who worked at UNICOR.
With respect to one victim, Nunley admitted he digitally penetrated her vagina and caused her to touch his penis under his pants, resulting in him ejaculating in her hand.
Further, Nunley admitted he caused another victim to perform oral sex on him. Moreover, Nunley wrote sexual notes to one of his victims and made sexual comments to multiple additional victims.
Nunley’s plea agreement also describes how he retaliated against prisoners who complained about his conduct.
For example, the plea agreement describes how one of his victims approached Nunley about his conduct towards another victim.
In response, Nunley threatened her by telling her she could get transferred to another facility and lose her job.
Similarly, Nunley admitted that he told another victim that if she wanted to keep her job at UNICOR, she needed to pull down her underwear and bend over. When she complied, Nunley slapped her buttocks several times.
In addition to admitting he engaged in illegal and improper conduct towards prisoners, Nunley also admitted in his plea agreement that he lied to federal investigators about sexually abusing his victims and about sending one of his victims sexually explicit notes.
DOJ-OIG and the FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly K. Priedeman and Andrew Paulson for the Northern District of California are prosecuting the case.