Convicted Long Island drug dealer whose sentence was commuted by Trump charged with menacing

A convicted Long Island drug dealer whose 10-year sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump has been arrested again — the fourth time since his release from prison — this time for threatening a man in a synagogue and a nurse in a hospital.

Jonathan Braun, 41, of Lawrence, was charged on Wednesday in Nassau District Court with two counts of menacing, both misdemeanors. He pleaded not guilty and was expected to be released on $3,000 cash bail.

After Braun's arraignment, his lawyer, Robert Caliendo, declined to comment.

Prosecutors charge Braun, who served one year of his decade-long drug sentence, threatened a nurse in Mount Sinai South Nassau  hospital on Jan. 24 while being treated in the emergency room.

"While working my shift, I was involved in a verbal argument with Jonathan Braun regarding patient care and he became aggressive," the nurse said in an affidavit. "The argument escalated and Braun began swinging his arms wildly, making the IV poles swing at me, causing me to be scared and putting me in fear for my safety."

She said he also threatened her.

Caliendo said his client was in "extreme physical distress" at the time and he would need more time to assess the allegation.

Last Saturday, Braun was asked by a man in the temple to be quiet during prayers.

"After which he did become very angry with me, proclaiming, 'Do you know who I am or what I can do to you?'" the man said in an affidavit.

When the man didn’t respond, he said Braun grabbed his arm tightly and said, "I’m going to [expletive] you up," court papers said.

Braun’s lawyer said he had spoken to two eyewitnesses to the synagogue incident and they told him the man was "trying to goad and bait my client."

"They said that my client did not take the bait and kept his calm," Caliendo said.

These arrests are the latest in a series of run-ins with authorities for Braun over the last eight months.

In August, Nassau County police arrested Braun twice. Authorities accused him of avoiding $160 in tolls after driving his Italian sports cars, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, through the Atlantic Beach toll plaza 40 times without license plates on his car.

On the same day, he was charged with beating his wife and her father during a domestic dispute. According to court papers, he shoved his wife to the ground and punched her in the head repeatedly. He chased her outside where her father tried to intervene and he was punched in the head as well by Braun, records show.

The charges were cleared after his wife and father-in-law became reluctant to cooperate with authorities, according to sources.

At the end of February, Braun was arrested again after his children’s nanny told authorities he had entered her bedroom, sat on her bed and grabbed her breast as he touched himself, court papers said.

"The victim states that she did not give [Braun] permission or authority to do this," the investigating officer wrote in the criminal complaint. The case is pending and he has pleaded not guilty.

Braun’s commuted sentence stems from his role as an enforcer for an international smuggling operation that moved millions of dollars of marijuana across the Canadian border to stash houses in Brooklyn and Staten Island, according to Brooklyn federal prosecutors.

He pleaded guilty to marijuana importation and money laundering charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. During the time between his conviction and his sentencing, Braun became embroiled in a small business loan scam investigated by the New York State Attorney General's Office.

According to court papers, Braun worked for Richmond Capital Partners, which would charge exorbitant interest rates for small business loans. The attorney general’s office accused Braun of threatening borrowers and their families with violence. Braun and the company paid a fine and restitution in the case.

Braun, who was released from Otisville federal prison in January 2021, was in the last group of federal defendants commuted or pardoned by Trump. He is still under the supervision of federal probation authorities and his arrest could violate the terms of his release.

Records show Brooklyn District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, the judge for the original drug case, has been monitoring his recent arrests. "Probation shall continue to investigate this matter and apprise the court of your findings and appropriate recommendations shall be offered at that time," the judge wrote on March 13.