Driver gets 3 years for threatening to kill officer over traffic tickets

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Jul. 4—An Albuquerque man will spend more than three years behind bars for threatening to kill a New Mexico State Police officer who gave him traffic tickets.

Michael Nissen, 56, was sentenced in federal court on June 18 to three years and five months in prison.

A jury in August 2019 found Nissen guilty on two counts of using interstate communication to threaten to injure someone. Nissen will be subject to three years of supervised release after his time in prison.

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court:

In November 2018, Nissen was pulled over by State Police on Interstate 40 in Torrance County and issued multiple citations by the officer. Within an hour, Nissen called State Police dispatch multiple times and said, "You've got some of the stupidest (expletive) pigs on the road. The next time someone violates me like that on the road, I'm gonna put a bullet in that (expletive) pig's head."

Days later, an assistant at the State Police office received a call from a man who was "verbally combative" and threatened to shoot the assistant in the head.

In December 2018, Nissen went to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office to complain about the traffic stop and said he had made calls and sent emails to State Police. Nissen told the deputies he owned multiple guns and carried his revolver to "protect himself from rogue state cops."

State Police arrested Nissen and, according to court records, officers executed a search warrant on his Albuquerque home. Authorities found 20 pounds of packaged marijuana, 32 plants in the process of drying and all equipment "necessary" for a hydroponic growing system.

They also found multiple rifles and a pistol in a gun safe.

"(Nissen) stated the firearms were to protect him and his home. ... (He) identified himself as a sovereign citizen," court records state.

Nissen was charged with distribution of marijuana or synthetic cannibinoids, but the case was dismissed after he was taken into federal custody.