SACKED Palace official and former top police officer Jumpol Manmai was sentenced to three years in jail yesterday for abuse of authority and forest encroachment.

Jumpol, 66, pleaded guilty at the Nakhon Ratchasima Provincial Court.

With his head shaven, he appeared in court wearing a brown inmate uniform and expressed an intention to not fight the charges. He did not seek the help of a lawyer.

The conviction related to a resort home he had built in the Thap Lan National Park.

Due to his confession, the court commuted a six-year jail term to just three years.

Jumpol was also ordered to have the resort home demolished and to pay more than Bt892,000 in compensation to the state.

After the verdict was delivered, he was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison.

An announcement in the Royal Gazette on March 7 said Jumpol was stripped of all royal decorations and his police-general rank on February 27.

Before the scandal broke last month, Jumpol boasted an impressive career. He retired from the police force after rising to be a deputy national commissioner. He was also the Royal Household Bureau’s Grand Chamberlain for security and special affairs.

Soon after the allegations against him started swirling, he was removed from his post at the Royal Household Bureau for grave |misconduct.

Jumpol was not the only high-profile figure facing action in the forest-encroachment case. Provincial Police Region 5 deputy commissioner Pol Maj General Pongdej Prommichit faces the same charges, but he has denied all charges.

Because Pongdej is contesting the charges, the court resolved to separate his case from that of Jumpol.

Pongdej will be arraigned within seven days, officials said.

Deputy National Police Commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibrahmanakul revealed yesterday that police investigators also recommended prosecuting five other suspects – including Jumpol’s wife and Pongdej’s wife – in the case involving Jumpol’s resort home that encroached on state forestland.