Recipient of Trump pardon faces $20 million fine in predatory lending case

Then President Donald J. Trump in his final hours in the White House in early 2021 commuted a ten-year sentence for drug smuggling Because he was served by a New Yorker named Jonathan Braun, he made no mention of Mr. Braun's many other legal troubles.

Months earlier, the Federal Trade Commission and the New York State Attorney General filed lawsuits against Mr. Braun, alleging that he defrauded and intimidated borrowers who took money from a network of predatory lenders that he led, charged extortionate interest rates and made violent threats.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in New York fined Braun $20 million after finding him liable for the trade commission's charges. Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Federal District Court in Manhattan excoriated Mr. Braun in the ruling, portraying him as a hardened, cowardly man who “cheerfully, with little remorse” bragged about his illegal behavior and treated it as a “laughable business.” '. while threatening the entrepreneurs, he uttered.

“The court believes that it must take into account the utter disregard and contempt that Mr. Braun has shown for consumers,” Judge Rakoff said in a 35-page ruling. “The evidence showed that Mr. Braun blatantly ignored or disregarded consumer complaints and used vile threats and profanity when a consumer was allegedly unable to pay his debts. Mr. Braun's behavior toward consumers was completely outrageous and inappropriate.”

The judge cited a video that one of Mr. Braun's business partners had filmed in which he threatened a business owner he claimed owed him money.

“Mr. Braun, among other things, threatened to send the consumer to prison and said with swear words that he would spit on the customer's face on the day of the visit,” the judge said. “Mr. Braun told the consumer to drive his Honda 'off a cliff' and that he hoped the consumer's wife would leave him.” During the phone call, the judge said, Mr. Braun also called the consumers names, including a “loser,” a “degenerate” and a number of obscenities.

The New York Times reported in November that Trump's commutation of Braun's 10-year sentence in an unrelated drug case dealt a major blow to an ambitious criminal investigation being conducted by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan.

That investigation was aimed at bringing predatory lenders like Mr. Braun to justice. Mr. Braun's lawyer and prosecutors were negotiating a cooperation agreement that would have let him out of jail in exchange for enlisting those he worked with and even secretly recording their conversations.

But when Mr. Trump released Mr. Braun, the government lost control of him and he has refused to cooperate with authorities ever since.

The Times also found that Mr. Braun's family relied on its connections to Jared Kushner's family to help open the doors of the White House and ultimately get his case brought before Mr. Trump.

Tuesday's ruling was related to lawsuits filed against Mr. Braun in June 2020, while he was serving the first months of his sentence on drug charges in federal prison. The lawsuits — which were filed publicly at the time, along with press reports detailing Mr. Braun's conduct — accused him of using the specter of violence to threaten and intimidate small business owners while essentially stealing money from them .

Judges overseeing both lawsuits ultimately barred Mr. Braun from working in the cash advance industry in New York and nationwide.

In the case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, a jury had given a judge an advisory opinion that Mr. Braun must pay a total of $11 million. But the judge nearly doubled it, he said, because of Mr. Braun's “egregious” behavior.

Mr. Braun's apparent lack of control by the Trump White House highlighted the sloppy way Mr. Trump made decisions about using his clemency powers. It also underscored how some of those who received pardons or commutations had used connections to get their cases heard, bypassing the Justice Department's traditional system for vetting and recommending pardon applicants.

Several other recipients of Mr. Trump's clemency grants have found themselves in legal trouble again.

A pardon ended the conviction of Republican operative Jesse Benton in connection with a scheme to buy endorsements during the 2012 election. Mr. Benton was convicted last year to a year and a half in prison for campaign violations related to the 2016 election – facilitating an illegal contribution from a Russian businessman to help Mr Trump.

Mr. Trump commuted the 24-year prison sentence of a former used-car salesman named Eliyahu Weinstein, who was convicted of investment fraud, including a $200 million Ponzi-like scheme that targeted his close-knit Orthodox Jewish community. Mr. Weinstein was charged last year in a new fraud case that allegedly defrauded at least 150 people of $35 million.

Mr. Trump's political adviser, Stephen K. Bannon, was pardoned in January 2021 on charges related to fundraising fraud. A year and a half later, he was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena calling for him to testify before the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He's attractive.

Other recipients of Mr. Trump's clemency who have found themselves back in legal trouble include Ken Kurson, a Trump ally who pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges related to cyberstalking his former wife, and the rapper Kodak Black, who has pleaded not guilty to drug charges. cost.

Kenneth P. Vogel reporting contributed.