Drug dealer granted clemency by Trump sent back to prison for violating
terms of his release
[November 11, 2025]
By PHILIP MARCELO and MICHAEL R. SISAK
NEW YORK (AP) — A convicted drug dealer who had been granted clemency by
President Donald Trump was sent back to federal prison on Monday for
violating the terms of his release after being charged with several new
crimes.
Jonathan Braun was sentenced to 27 months behind bars. The Long Island
man had been accused of swinging an IV pole at a hospital nurse and
threatening to kill her, screaming at a member of his synagogue, groping
his family’s nanny and evading bridge tolls.
Braun, speaking in a Brooklyn federal court hearing attended by family
and supporters, apologized to his victims and loved ones, who he
acknowledged had tried to get him help for his substance abuse and
mental health problems before he spiraled out of control.
“I have no one to blame but me,” he said.
Braun also thanked Judge Kiyo Matsumoto for ordering him detained
following his arrest earlier this year, saying the past seven months
locked up in a Brooklyn federal jail “saved my life” by helping him get
sober.
Matsumoto, for her part, said she hoped Braun’s “expressions of remorse”
and promises to “lead a law-abiding life” were in good faith, noting
that many of the people who he had harmed have since forgiven him.
“Don’t squander it,” she said to Braun.
Braun was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in 2019 after pleading
guilty to drug-related charges. He served about a year behind bars
before Trump commuted his sentence in the final days of his first term
in January 2021. Braun was freed from prison, but the rest of his
sentence remained intact, including requirements that he pay a fine and
stay out of trouble.
Braun had been a high-ranking member of an international group that
smuggled more than 100,000 kilograms (220,460 pounds) of marijuana from
Canada into the United States, federal prosecutors said at the time.
Braun’s former live-in nanny attended Monday's proceedings by phone and
asked prosecutors to read her statement in court.
In it, she said she was “grateful that justice had been served” as she
had not only lost her job, but also “endured deep emotional trauma” that
left her "with lasting trust issues.”
The Associated Press does not identify people who say they’re victims of
sexual abuse unless they choose to make their names public.
Edward Miller, the synagogue congregant Braun allegedly threatened,
recalled how Braun had gone on a drug-fueled “rampage” in their affluent
Long Island community, “freaking out all over the place."
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The seal of the United States is displayed on the facade of Federal
court in Brooklyn, Jan. 17, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John
Minchillo, File)
Still, he felt that additional prison time would only worsen his
condition, which he believed was better treated in a professional
treatment setting.
“He’s not a hardened criminal," Miller said. “He’s a sick man.”
Prosecutors had sought a five-year sentence, the maximum punishment
allowed, arguing Braun’s “brazen and violent conduct” had “caused fear
and terror in his victims” and showed he remained a “serious danger to
the community.”
“This defendant has had many, many chances,” Assistant U.S. Attorney
Tanya Hajjar said in court.
But Braun’s federal public defender, Kathryn Wozencroft, argued for his
immediate release, saying he's taken steps to rebuild his life while
behind bars, including meeting with a psychiatrist and talking with a
rabbi twice a week.
Braun’s conduct, she said, was driven by “a pretty significant
psychiatric crisis” fueled by hallucinogenic drugs.
In January, prosecutors said, Braun cursed emergency department staff at
a Long Island hospital, picking up an IV pole that was connected to his
arm and swinging at a nurse as she approached and attempted to calm him
down.
In February, prosecutors said, Braun entered the bedroom of his
children’s live-in nanny, wrapped an arm around her upper body and used
the other to put her in a headlock before grabbing her breasts and
making unwanted sexual advances. The nanny testified in court that
Braun’s actions made her so uncomfortable that she locked herself in a
bathroom, called her husband and asked him to notify police.
In March, prosecutors said, Braun grabbed and threatened a fellow
worshipper who asked him to be quiet during a synagogue service. After
stepping away for about 10 minutes, Braun allegedly got in the man’s
face, squeezed his right arm tightly and asked him: “Do you know who I
am?” and “Do you know what I could have done to you?”
Braun’s infractions didn’t end there. Last summer, police said, he
evaded bridge tolls at least 40 times while driving his luxury cars,
accruing $160 in unpaid fees.
He also failed to make payments toward his court-ordered fine despite
living in a multimillion-dollar home, driving luxury vehicles and taking
international vacations, prosecutors said.
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