New York drug dealer whose prison sentence Trump commuted arrested for assault – NBC Connecticut

• A convicted New York drug dealer and loan shark who unscathed a 10-year sentence in federal prison after then-President Donald Trump commuted it to probation in 2021 was arrested Tuesday on assault charges, court records show.
• Jonathan Braun was accused in court documents in Nassau County on Long Island of attacking his 75-year-old father-in-law on Tuesday as he tried to protect his daughter from Braun. He also allegedly attacked his wife last month and last week, the New York Times reported.
• Braun was fined $20 million in February by Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff in a civil case in which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Braun for usurious lending practices.

A convicted New York drug dealer and loan shark who was released from a 10-year sentence in federal prison after it was commuted to probation by the then-President in 2021. Donald Trump was arrested for assault, court records show.

Jonathan Braun was accused in court documents in Nassau County, Long Island, of attacking his 75-year-old father-in-law on Tuesday as he tried to protect his daughter from Braun. Separately, Braun was also accused of attacking his wife, his wife, last month and last week, The New York Times reported.

Court records show that Braun pleaded not guilty to three counts at his arraignment on Wednesday and was released without bail on those charges.

He was also charged with petty theft in Nassau County Superior Court, according to the Times, in connection with allegations that he failed to pay $160 in bridge tolls while driving a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, both of which have no license plates.

Braun was fined $20 million in February by Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff in a civil case in which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Braun for usurious lending practices.

“The evidence … shows that Mr. Braun not only personally engaged in this illegal conduct, but did so with glee and little remorse,” Rakoff wrote in his ruling, citing emails Braun sent about the loans.

CNBC has asked Braun's attorney, Marc Fernich, for comment.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Republican presidential candidate Trump, said in a statement about Braun's arrest: “President Trump wants criminals to spend time behind bars, unlike Kamala Harris, who wants to abolish bail.”

Vice President Harris is the Democratic presidential candidate.

Braun had already served more than five years of his prison sentence for conspiracy to import marijuana and money laundering when Trump granted him clemency on January 20, 2021, just hours before he left the White House.

Because of his conviction, he remains on probation, meaning he could potentially be sent back to federal prison if a judge finds he violated the terms of his release.

The Times reported last fall that Trump's commutation had thwarted prosecutors' ongoing efforts to negotiate a cooperation agreement with Braun that would have released him from prison in return for providing information about other loan sharks for a criminal investigation.

The Times also reported that Braun's family used its connections to the family of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, then a senior White House official, to secure the then-president's pardon.