{"id":309102,"date":"2026-07-29T20:28:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309102\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T20:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:28:42","slug":"judge-slams-doj-request-for-hefty-sentence-in-brooklyn-synagogue-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309102\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge slams DOJ request for hefty sentence in Brooklyn synagogue\u00a0crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA property crime is what was charged here. Not a hate crime,\u201d U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano said after prosecutors asked him to sentence Dan Sohail to prison for more than double the guidelines range.<\/p>\n

BROOKLYN (CN) \u2014 After he admitted to crashing his car into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn in late January, a New Jersey man on Wednesday received a sentence of time served \u2014 plus seven days to arrange for mental health care upon his release.<\/p>\n

Dan Sohail, 36, appeared in security footage repeatedly driving his 2012 Honda Accord into the Chabad building in Crown Heights. The video shows him driving up to the synagogue just before 9 p.m. on Jan. 28 and moving barricades and ushering congregants away from the entrance, before getting back into his car and driving into the building\u2019s exterior wooden door \u2014 then backing up and ramming the door again, four more times. Then Sohail, wearing shorts and boots with a mid-weight jacket, exits the car and is arrested by NYPD officers.<\/p>\n

The crash knocked the door off its hinges and destroyed Sohail\u2019s car bumper. No one was injured. Sohail will have to pay the Chabad Headquarters restitution of more than $19,000 for the property damage and attend mandatory mental health treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a personality disorder.<\/p>\n

Sohail, whom all parties acknowledge has significant mental health issues that drove his actions \u2014\u00a0rather than any hatred or animus toward Jewish people or institutions \u2014\u00a0has been in custody for exactly six months, the high end of the guidelines range. Yet prosecutors asked for a 14-month sentence as a deterrent against antisemitic crimes.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano acknowledged that antisemitic crimes are a \u201cstain on the soul of this city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re living in a terrible time of crime against Jewish people, Jewish institutions, motivated by hate or animus. That\u2019s what converts the property crime into something more,\u201d the George W. Bush-appointed judge said.<\/p>\n

But Vitaliano said he was \u201csomewhat saddened \u2014\u00a0perhaps even more than somewhat\u201d by the government\u2019s request in this case. \u201cIt asks the court to sentence based on the general misunderstanding of the public,\u201d he said. \u201cA property crime is what was charged here. Not a hate crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

In federal court, Sohail was charged with damaging religious property. Previous state hate crime charges against him were dropped. Sohail, the son of a Catholic mother and Muslim father, says he\u2019d taken an interest in Judaism and was in the process of converting to the faith before his arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is impossible to square what he did with what he believes,\u201d Sohail\u2019s attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg of the Federal Defenders of New York said Wednesday. \u201cWe don\u2019t sentence people based on initial gut reactions and first impressions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Sohail\u2019s sentencing memo, Eisner-Grynberg called the incident a cry for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn January of this year, gripped by mental illness, Mr. Sohail irrationally drove his vehicle into the Chabad Headquarters \u2014 home of an entity that had welcomed and embraced him, and in which he had sought acceptance. Rather than an act of hate, as it reasonably appeared at first blush, Mr. Sohail saw his actions as a desperate call for help,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Silverberg pointed to the significance of attacking a Jewish institution, which on the evening of Jan. 28 was hosting an event marking the anniversary of the death of the Chabad movement\u2019s leader, attended by dozens of congregants, according to court papers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guidelines simply do not capture the dangerous nature of this conduct,\u201d Silverberg said.<\/p>\n

That Sohail\u2019s behavior was \u201cinexplicable\u201d and he struggles with mental illness were factors behind the government\u2019s request for a sentence more than twice as long as the federal guidelines, Silverberg said. \u201cIt is both a mitigating factor and it gives the government serious concern about whether he will commit crimes in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors also noted Sohail refused to come to court for his bail hearing<\/a> in March following a physical altercation with another inmate in the courthouse holding cell. Sohail was already in custody on state charges at the time. He pleaded guilty to a criminal complaint<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not impressed by fights in cellblocks or defendants who choose not to make an appearance,\u201d Vitaliano said. Here, it wasn\u2019t \u201csome sort of moral turpitude causing the conduct, but an illness that needs treating.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIf there\u2019s a need for specific deterrence, that\u2019s where it rests.”<\/p>\n

Deterrence and the need to \u201cawaken this city to remove the stain of antisemitism” are both \u201ctwo important goals,\u201d Vitaliano said. \u201cBut there\u2019s no basis in my view to keep Mr. Sohail behind bars to achieve the other goal of working as best we can as a community \u2026 to protect Jewish people and Jewish institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vitaliano ended the hearing with words of encouragement for Sohail.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Sohail, you need help. A hand of help has been extended to you. Please grasp it and know that the help you need is available. We pray it will be successful for you,\u201d Vitaliano said.<\/p>\n

Eisner-Grynberg declined to comment following the hearing, but she signaled during the proceeding that her client, who plans to move in with his mother in New Jersey, intends to follow the judge\u2019s orders: \u201cHe is very eager to put his life together, get back to work and begin the very difficult journey of mental health treatment that awaits him.\u201d<\/p>\n


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