A convicted New York drug dealer, Jonathan Braun, whose prison sentence was commuted by Donald Trump in the final days of his first presidency, has now been found guilty of violating his parole and faces up to five years back in prison. The Long Island resident, who served only about a year of his 10-year sentence before the commutation, was accused of a series of crimes that led to his re-arrest and the subsequent ruling by a federal judge.
This news comes as a huge blow to anyone who thought the former president’s last-minute commutation was a good idea. Trump has been a vocal opponent of crime, often singling out immigrants as the source of America’s problems, but it seems like we can’t blame every problem on immigration.
Per The Guardian, the commutation of Braun’s sentence in January 2021 was a part of a wave of over 100 pardons and commutations that Trump issued in his final hours in office. At the time, the White House said Braun “will seek employment to support his wife and children,” a promise that, in hindsight, feels like a slap in the face. Instead, he was found to have violated the terms of his release through several incidents, including menacing a hospital nurse and a fellow synagogue member, groping his family’s nanny, and evading bridge tolls.
Trump’s pardoned person just can’t stay out of jail
I honestly can’t believe he was given a second chance after being a high-ranking member of a group that smuggled over 100,000 kilograms of marijuana from Canada into the U.S. and then went right back to a life of crime. The smuggling thing is what Trump accuses immigrants of doing all the time, but it’s easier when his newest immigration judges don’t need experience.
A federal judge ruled last Friday that prosecutors had proven the violations “by a preponderance of the evidence” during a series of hearings. While the judge, Kiyo Matsumoto, acknowledged prosecutors hadn’t met the legal burden for other charges, such as a March altercation where Braun allegedly punched a guest and shoved his three-year-old son to the ground, the parole violations alone were enough.
Drug Dealer Granted Clemency By Trump Arrested For Allegedly Shoving 3-Year-Old
— Dan's Art (@VolArtDan) April 6, 2025
Jonathan Braun, who reportedly had a connection to Jared Kushner, has now been arrested four times since the president commuted his sentence. pic.twitter.com/52M32JefdE
Braun pleaded not guilty to the charges, but he has been in federal custody since April, which is a night and day difference from the freedom he was given by the former president. For some context, Braun was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in 2019 after pleading guilty to drug-related charges. He served roughly a year behind bars before his commutation, which was granted without explanation from the White House.
This is awful for anyone who believes in the justice system, especially when a person who was a high-ranking member of an international drug smuggling operation gets a get-out-of-jail-free card. I mean, federal prosecutors said he was part of an international group that smuggled over 220,000 pounds of marijuana. That’s a huge amount of drugs.
To be fair, a White House spokesperson said Trump “stands by” his decision, but that there is “always a risk in granting pardons, and it’s unfortunate when this privilege is abused.” I would say that is a massive understatement. Beyond the drug smuggling, Braun also had other legal issues. The Federal Trade Commission sued him and won a $20 million judgment for running a predatory lending company.
According to the FTC, Braun’s company illegally withdrew money from customer accounts and even threatened physical violence to get people to pay up. In fact, New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office sued Braun and his associates, alleging they were “modern-day loan sharks.” She said, “These modern-day loan sharks not only preyed on hardworking business owners with fake loans, but threatened violence and kidnapping.” So, it looks like Braun was a menace to society even when he wasn’t smuggling drugs. Now, he faces a sentencing hearing on October 9.
