Convicted drug dealer whose sentence was commuted by Trump charged with domestic violence

A New York man whose 10-year prison sentence for trafficking thousands of kilograms of marijuana was commuted to probation by then-President Donald Trump in early 2021 has been arrested on domestic violence charges on Long Island.

Jonathan Braun, 41, was charged Tuesday with three counts of assault for attacking his wife and her 75-year-old father in their Atlantic Beach home, a Nassau County police report said. He was also charged with theft for allegedly evading $160 in tolls by driving through E-ZPass lanes about 40 times in sports cars without license plates, another report said.

Braun pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday and was released on bail despite prosecutors asking for $35,000 bail. Phone numbers listed for him in public records were no longer in use.

“I have no definitive comment other than that these are mere allegations and that we will vigorously defend ourselves against the charges,” said Braun's attorney Arthur Gershfeld.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement that her office disagreed with the judge's decision to release Braun on bail. She did not comment directly on the domestic violence allegations, but said her office “continues to thoroughly review the evidence in this case and prepare for prosecution.”

Braun's previous run-ins with authorities include a drug trafficking conviction and a Federal Trade Commission civil suit that resulted in a $20 million verdict against him in February after a jury trial. The FTC said Braun ran a loan company that illegally withdrew money from customers' accounts and sometimes threatened physical violence to get them to pay.

Braun was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a federal judge in New York in 2019 after pleading guilty to drug charges, but he was released in January 2021 after Trump commuted his sentence to probation without explanation in the final days of his presidency, as he did with many others.

A spokesman for Trump, the current Republican presidential candidate, did not respond to an email seeking comment Thursday.

In court documents, federal prosecutors said Braun was a high-ranking member of an international group that smuggled more than 100,000 kilograms of marijuana from Canada into the United States, mostly across Indian reservations along the border. The drugs were transported in vehicles with secret compartments to stash houses in Queens and Staten Island, New York, and then sold by street dealers throughout the New York City metropolitan area, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Braun used threats and actual violence to collect drug debts and prevent his “subordinates” from cooperating with law enforcement.

According to court documents, Braun was once sued by a man who claimed Braun pushed him off a second-story balcony.

In the most recent case, Braun's wife told police they were at their home in Atlantic Beach, about 25 miles east of Manhattan, on Aug. 12 when he threw her to the ground and struck her in the head several times, “causing her significant pain, bruising and dizziness,” the police report said.

She also said that on July 17, Braun threw her from a bed onto the floor, which also caused her pain and bruising. During one of the two arguments, Braun also punched his father-in-law in the face twice, according to police.

Braun must appear in court again on August 29.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications.