A convicted felon who had his sentence commuted by President Donald Trump during his first term in office was sent back to jail on Friday, the New York Post reported.
Jonathan Braun, 41, was arrested Friday for violating the terms of his supervised release that included punching a man during a Shabbat dinner Saturday night at his home in Nassau County, New York, according to court documents. Braun then shoved the man's 3-year-old child to the ground, "causing a red mark on his back and substantial pain," according to the arrest report.
Friday's arrest was the fifth time that Braun had been arrested since his commutation four years ago.
In 2024, Braun was charged with three counts of assault on allegations he assaulted his wife and her 75-year-old father at their home in Atlantic Beach.
Braun was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn before Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto. The Post reported he wore a hooded sweatshirt during the court proceedings and openly expressed contempt for his legal representation, at one point giving the middle finger to people sitting in the courtroom.
"I could've gone to law school myself," he told the judge. "I chose not to."
Braun was charged Friday with violating the terms of his supervised release and ordered detained in Brooklyn federal court, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York's office.
He is charged with seven violations of his release stemming from multiple arrests over the past seven months, said John Marzulli, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office.
He said Braun has been charged with assault of an elderly man, assault of his wife, groping his nanny's breast without her permission, assault of a 3-year-old child, and menacing a hospital staffer.
Prosecutors had requested that Braun be held without bail and cited the violent nature of his crimes.
"The behavior is erratic," Matsumoto said at the arraignment. "There's the potential someone could really get hurt. My concern is there are repeated instances of violence and showing lack of stability."
Braun pleaded not guilty. He's due back in Brooklyn court April 10 and also has an April 29 appearance in a Long Island court related to some of the crimes.
His public defender didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment. If convicted, Braun faces up to five years in prison.
Braun pleaded guilty to drug-related charges and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in 2019.
He served roughly a year behind bars before Trump commuted his sentence for running a marijuana smuggling ring on the last day of his first term in office in 2021.
Braun had used his connection with Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who served as a senior White House adviser in his first administration. The New York Times reported that Kushner had used the relationship to get the matter before Trump.
In November, Trump picked the elder Kushner to be the U.S. ambassador to France.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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