Drug dealer granted clemency by Trump sent back to prison for violating terms of his release

NEW YORK -- A convicted cause trader who had been granted clemency by President Donald Trump was sent backmost to national situation connected Monday for violating the terms of his merchandise aft being charged with respective caller crimes.

Jonathan Braun was sentenced to 27 months down bars.

The Long Island antheral had been accused of swinging an IV rod astatine a infirmary caregiver and threatening to termination her, screaming astatine a subordinate of his synagogue, groping his family’s nanny and evading span tolls.

Brooklyn national Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said she hoped Braun's “expressions of remorse” and promises to “lead a instrumentality abiding life” were successful bully faith, noting that galore of the radical who helium had harmed person since forgiven him.

“Don’t squander it,” she said to Braun.

Prosecutors had sought a five-year sentence, the maximum punishment allowed, arguing that a lengthy stint down bars was “necessary to support the nationalist from further crimes.”

“The defendant’s brazen and convulsive behaviour caused fearfulness and panic successful his victims,” prosecutors wrote successful a tribunal filing up of his sentencing. Braun, they said, has continued to amusement that helium is simply a “serious information to the community."

Braun has been locked up astatine a national jailhouse successful Brooklyn since his apprehension successful April for violating the presumption of his release. That clip volition beryllium subtracted from his sentence.

Braun’s national nationalist defender, Kathryn Wozencroft, had sought for him to beryllium released immediately.

Since returning to jail, she said, Braun has been gathering with a psychiatrist, gotten sober and worked to rebuild his religion and assemblage support, talking with a rabbi doubly a week and expressing remorse to him for his actions. Braun's conduct, she said, was driven by addiction.

“The past 7 months successful custody person fixed Mr. Braun important clip to bespeak connected the precise superior harm his behaviour caused, and to instrumentality steps to guarantee that helium tin beryllium palmy connected supervision moving forward,” Wozencroft wrote to the justice up of the hearing.

Braun was sentenced to 10 years successful national situation successful 2019 aft pleading blameworthy to drug-related charges. He served astir a twelvemonth down bars earlier Trump commuted his sentence successful the last days of his archetypal word successful January 2021. Braun was freed from prison, but the remainder of his condemnation remained intact, including requirements that helium wage a good and enactment retired of trouble.

Braun had been a high-ranking subordinate of an planetary radical that smuggled much than 100,000 kilograms (220,460 pounds) of marijuana from Canada into the United States, national prosecutors said astatine the time.

In January, prosecutors said, Braun cursed astatine nurses and argued with an adjunct caregiver manager successful the exigency section astatine a Long Island hospital, picking up an IV rod that was connected to his limb and swinging it successful her absorption arsenic she approached and attempted to calm him down.

Braun's woman was besides screaming astatine infirmary staff, prosecutors said. When the adjunct caregiver manager said that she would person to leave, Braun tore into the adjunct caregiver manager, walking toward her until helium was stopped by infirmary security, yelling profanities and repeatedly saying that helium was going to termination her, prosecutors said.

In February, prosecutors said, Braun entered the chamber of his children’ family’s live-in nanny, wrapped an limb astir her precocious assemblage and utilized the different to enactment her successful a headlock earlier grabbing her breasts and making unwanted intersexual advances. The nanny testified successful tribunal that Braun’s actions made her truthful uncomfortable that she locked herself successful a bathroom, called her hubby and asked him to notify police.

In March, prosecutors said, Braun grabbed and threatened a chap worshipper who asked him to beryllium quiescent during a synagogue service. After stepping distant for astir 10 minutes, Braun allegedly got successful the man's face, squeezed his close limb tightly and asked him: “Do you cognize who I am?” and “Do you cognize what I could person done to bash you?”

Braun's infractions didn't extremity there. Last summer, constabulary said, helium evaded span tolls astatine slightest 40 times portion driving his luxury cars, accruing $160 successful unpaid fees.

He besides failed to marque payments towards his court-ordered good contempt surviving successful a multimillion-dollar location and driving luxury vehicles, prosecutors said, and helium failed to marque “truthful and implicit fiscal disclosures” to probation officials, including impervious of full-time employment.