Jonathan Braun, of Lawrence, whose sentence was commuted by Trump, violated post-release supervision, judge rules

A convicted Lawrence drug smuggler whose 10-year sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump violated the terms of his post-release supervision, a federal judge ruled, when he groped his children’s nanny, evaded the Atlantic Beach Bridge tolls and failed to pay $80,000 in fines, among other charges.

Jonathan Braun, 42, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to money laundering and secreting millions of dollars in marijuana across the Canadian border, did not violate those terms when he allegedly assaulted his so-called spiritual adviser and his adviser’s son in his sprawling Lawrence mansion in February, the judge ruled.

Braun was released from prison in 2019 after Trump granted him clemency on the final day of his first presidential term. He served about a year behind bars.

Last August, Braun was rearrested by Nassau County police and charged with assaulting his wife and father-in-law on Long Island during an argument. He was also charged with repeatedly driving his Lamborghini and Ferrari through the Atlantic Beach toll plaza without paying more than $300 in tolls. Prosecutors dropped the assault charges after his wife and father-in-law declined to cooperate.

The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office charged him several more times over 2025.

In January, he swung an IV pole at a nurse during an emergency room visit over gallstone issues at the Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital and repeatedly said he would kill her, according to court testimony.

On Valentine’s Day weekend, the woman who takes care of Braun’s children said he entered her room, shirtless, and pulled her down onto her bed, placing her in a headlock. She testified he grabbed her breast and placed her hand on his private parts. She said he then tried to coax her into engaging in sexual acts. He let go, she said, only when she told him that she had to go to the bathroom, where she locked the door and called for help.

In March, prosecutors charge, after a congregant shushed him during a prayer service, Braun grabbed the man’s arm and threatened, "Do you know who I am? Do you know what I could have done to you?"

District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto ruled Monday that she found the testimony of the nurse and the nanny credible and that Braun violated the terms of post-release supervision when he groped the child care worker, attacked the nurse and menaced the congregant.

Later in March, Braun’s mother hired Shammai Tapper as a spiritual adviser for her son after his repeated run-ins with the law, according to testimony. During a sleepover at Braun’s sprawling Lawrence mansion with Tapper and Tapper's wife and children, Braun became enraged and attacked Tapper, according to video shown during a court hearing. The video shows Braun in his bathrobe, kicking at Tapper and chasing him through the house. The recording also shows Tapper’s wife and children fleeing the property with their luggage.

Nassau police later charged Braun with an assault on Tapper and Tapper's 3-year-old son. He was also charged with endangering the welfare of a minor.

On the witness stand during the hearing, however, Tapper appeared reluctant to testify against Braun to a degree that the judge ordered his wife, Sara, to take the stand. Sara Tapper’s testimony wasn't credible, according to prosecutors, because she had told her husband after the alleged attack that Braun’s family would pay them more not to call the police.

The judge ruled that there was not evidence of sufficient harm in the alleged attack on the boy or his father to rise to the level of assault.

The judge also said he believed Raymond Webb, executive director of the Nassau County Bridge Authority, in his testimony and video evidence that showed Braun repeatedly tailgating cars through the Atlantic Beach toll plaza to avoid paying the fare.

Finally, Matsumoto found that Braun had paid only $22,800 of his $100,000 fine that she levied against him in 2010.

The judge said Braun had enough money to pay his butler, gamble nearly $30,000 away at the Foxwoods casino, drive luxury cars and live in a multimillion-dollar home and could at least have paid down more of the fine.

Braun faces 5 years behind bars for the violations of his post-release supervision. He’s also facing a 10-count indictment in Nassau County for many of the same offenses.

His attorney, Kathryn Wozencroft, did not respond to a request for comment.

Braun will be back in Brooklyn federal court on Oct. 9 for sentencing.