Drug Dealer Granted Clemency by Trump Sent Back to Prison After Accusations of Molesting His Kids’ Nanny, Assaulting Toddler

A man who once received clemency from President Donald Trump is returning to federal prison — this time following accusations of s*xual and physical assault, according to multiple reports.

Jonathan Braun, whose prior drug conviction was commuted in the final hours of Trump’s first term, was sentenced on Monday, Nov. 10, to 27 months in prison and three and a half years of supervised release, outlets including The New York Times, ABC News and The New York Daily News reported.

Braun, 42, was found to have violated the terms of his supervised release, which began in January 2021 after Trump granted him clemency.

In court, Braun was accused of s*xually assaulting his children’s nanny. Prosecutors alleged that he placed her in a headlock, grabbed her breasts, and forced her hand onto his exposed genitals after entering her bedroom, according to ABC News and the Daily News.

Additional allegations included swinging a hospital IV pole at a nurse while threatening to “f—ing kill” her, as well as threatening and grabbing a fellow congregant’s arm at a New York City synagogue, the outlets reported.

The Times also reported that Braun repeatedly avoided bridge tolls in New York City while driving luxury vehicles — including a Lamborghini and a Ferrari — and had failed to pay a $100,000 fine from his 2019 sentencing.

Prosecutors further accused Braun of physically assaulting a 3-year-old child in April, a development that ultimately led to his detention while awaiting a hearing on the violations tied to his supervised release.

According to federal inmate records reviewed by independent reporters, Braun remains in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as of Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Following the sentencing, The Times reported that Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto of Federal District Court in Brooklyn ordered Braun to undergo rehabilitation programs addressing drug use and mental health issues.

Braun is now the eighth individual to face new criminal charges after receiving a pardon or sentence commutation from Trump during the wide-ranging clemency actions issued at the end of his first term, the Times noted.

ABC reported that Braun had long been considered a high-ranking figure in an international marijuana smuggling network that trafficked over 220,460 pounds of cannabis across the Canadian border into the United States more than a decade before recreational legalization in New York.

According to The Times, Braun fled to Israel when he came under federal investigation as one of New York City’s largest marijuana distributors. He eventually returned to the U.S. after being placed on Interpol’s list and pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in 2010. Despite this, sentencing was delayed until 2019, when Judge Matsumoto originally ordered a 10-year prison term.

Braun reported to federal prison in 2020, but approximately one year later, Trump granted him clemency in January 2021. The Times reported that Braun’s family had appealed to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, leveraging personal connections to secure his place on the clemency list.

At the time of his release, the White House said, “Upon his release, Mr. Braun will seek employment to support his wife and children.” Braun was later accused of assaulting the family’s live-in nanny as well as physically harming a toddler.

Prosecutors described Braun’s conduct as “brazen and violent” and argued in a court filing that he remained a “serious danger to the community,” according to ABC.

The White House did not respond to inquiries seeking comment on Braun’s latest sentencing or the administration’s prior decision to grant him clemency. A spokesperson for Trump’s administration also declined to answer questions about the vetting process that led to Braun’s inclusion on the pardon list.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free, confidential, and available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.