Inset: Jonathan Braun (Nassau County Police Department). Background: President Donald Trump listens to a question from a reporter before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 31, 2025 (Pool via AP).
A convicted drug dealer from New York state whose sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in 2021 has been found guilty of violating his parole on numerous occasions.
Late last week, Jonathan Braun, 41, was found guilty of violating his supervised release by allegedly committing six crimes – including two counts of menacing, and one count each of forcible touching, petit larceny, sexual abuse, and failing to pay a fine.
Beginning in August 2024, the defendant has faced numerous allegations from local law enforcement in Nassau County and other parts of Long Island.
In a Friday memorandum and order, senior U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto used the “preponderance of evidence” standard to assess each of the charges filed by Empire State law enforcement. This standard of proof is markedly less exacting than the “reasonable doubt” typically required to convict a criminal defendant; however, it is allowed to assess whether a person has violated their parole.
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In sum, Braun was charged with nine separate offenses since he was paroled. Matsumoto determined that the first three allegations did not pass muster. Those three allegations included two counts of assault and one count of child endangerment – stemming from an incident during a Sabbath dinner hosted at Braun”s home in late March.
The six other charges were “proven…by a preponderance of the evidence” and span from the summer of last year to March 22.
On July 17, 2024, Braun allegedly threw his wife off a bed and onto the floor, “causing her substantial pain and bruising her legs,” the complaint says, citing the woman as the complaining party. On Aug. 12, 2024, the defendant again allegedly threw his wife to the floor and then punched her in the head, “causing her substantial pain,” dizziness, and “bruising,” according to the criminal complaint obtained by Long Island-based daily newspaper Newsday.
Most of the charges from that arrest were later dropped; the lone remaining charge is one count of petit larceny.
The larceny charge stems from separate scofflaw behavior behind the wheel. Braun allegedly drove his white Lamborghini and black Ferrari across a Long Island bridge without paying tolls or displaying license plates on either luxury car, accumulating $160 in tolls and fines.
“[S]taff observed toll evasion by the Lamborghini and Ferrari approximately 75 times by the time a complaint by the Nassau County Bridge Authority was made with the Nassau County Police Department,” Matsumoto wrote in his order.
On Feb. 15, Braun was arrested again – on one count of allegedly forcibly touching another person’s intimate parts. A sexual assault charge was later added. This incident allegedly involved the defendant attacking and groping the live-in nanny employed by his family.
The court’s order recites the allegations in detail and ends with the nanny escaping the alleged attack by locking herself in the bathroom and contacting her husband, Braun’s wife, and police.
“He knows people,” the nanny testified in the case against the defendant, “he’s dangerous and I don’t want him to hurt me.”
On March 22, Braun was arrested for the third time, on charges of menacing in the second and third degrees. This arrest stemmed from a January hospital visit where an argument with a nurse led to the defendant allegedly swinging an IV pole at the nurse.
“The Court finds credible [the nurse’s] testimony that Defendant swung an IV pole in her direction while yelling repeatedly that he was going to ‘kill’ her, thus intentionally placing [the nurse] in reasonable fear of her physical injury,” Matsumoto writes. “[The nurse] credibly testified that she feared that Defendant was intending, and was going to cause her physical injury when he swung the metal IV pole at her.”
Additionally, Braun is accused of threatening another congregant at a religious service after being asked to be quiet. Specifically, Braun allegedly pointedly asked the shh-ing man: “Do you know who I am?” and “Do you know what I could have done to you?” The defendant also allegedly “made a reference in Hebrew to the ‘Angel of Death.'” Then, Braun allegedly grabbed the other man’s arm and continued his threats.
“The Court finds that [the congregant’s] testimony was credible and his fear of injury from Defendant was well-founded,” the judge goes on. “Defendant intentionally placed [the congregant] in fear of physical injury by screaming threats at [him] and physically grabbing [his] arm with sufficient force to cause pain.”
The order ends with a recitation of the court fees Braun has long owed to the U.S. Department of Justice from his years-long legal troubles – and juxtaposes that debt with his apparent wealth.
“Defendant is required, as a condition of supervised release, to make payments towards his $100,000 fine under a court-ordered schedule,” Matsumoto notes. “Defendant reported to his probation officer that he is employed but had not provided verification, and that his earnings are directly deposited into his bank account. Defendant further reported that his family ‘takes care’ of him financially so he need not use his employment earnings towards his life expenses. Defendant lives in a multi-million dollar property, as depicted in the video evidence.”
Braun faces five years behind bars for the parole violations. He is slated to appear in court for sentencing on the morning of Oct. 9.
The 45th and 47th president pardoned Braun in January 2021 as part of a final wave of 143 pardons and commutations.
