Jonathan Braun, a loan shark freed from prison by President Donald Trump in 2021, was sent back to a federal jail after a string of arrests that prosecutors said violated the terms of his release.

Braun, 41, was held without bail Friday after US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn, New York, ruled Braun was a danger to the community. He was taken into custody earlier in the day by federal marshals in nearby Nassau County.

Since last August, he’s been arrested four times — most recently last Saturday — by police in Nassau County on state charges including assaulting a minor, petty larceny and sexual assault. In the most recent incident, Braun is accused of striking one person in the face and then shoving two people — including a 3-year-old — to the ground. 

“I am concerned about the nature of the offenses, people are getting hurt,” Matsumoto said at Friday’s hearing, citing seven separate separate violations over the past seven months. 

Braun pleaded not guilty to violating the conditions of his supervised release. He faces as long as five years in federal prison, said John Marzulli, a spokesman for prosecutors.

Trump granted clemency to Braun during the waning hours of his first term. Braun was released from prison after he had served about two and a half years of a decade-long sentence for drug trafficking.

At the time, he was facing separate investigations by US and New York authorities into his lending business, where he faced allegations that he ripped off small businesses and threatened them with violence. 

A federal defender, Kathryn Wozencroft, who was appointed to be his lawyer for Friday’s hearing, declined to comment.

Braun told that Matsumoto that he wants to represent himself.

“Why would I allow someone I met 20 minutes ago defend me?” Braun said in court.

Marc Fernich, who represented him in the federal drug case, declined to comment, saying Braun is no longer a client.

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