Prosecutors argued that a tougher sentence would serve as a broader warning to those who might target Jewish institutions.
By Shula Rosen
A New Jersey man was sentenced Wednesday to six months and one week in prison for repeatedly ramming his car into the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn after a federal judge rejected prosecutors’ request for a longer sentence intended to deter attacks on Jewish institutions.
Dan Sohail, 36, will be released in about a week because he has already spent six months in detention. During sentencing in Brooklyn federal court, Judge Eric N. Vitaliano declined the prosecution’s recommendation to extend the sentence by an additional two months.
Prosecutors argued that a tougher sentence would serve as a broader warning to those who might target Jewish institutions at a time of sharply rising hate crimes against the Jewish community.
Judge Vitaliano said he was “somewhat saddened” that the Justice Department wanted him to be influenced by what he described as a mistaken impression that the case constituted a hate crime.
The judge also cited a psychiatric evaluation, saying Sohail’s mental health challenges “played an important role” in his decision-making.
Authorities said no one was injured when Sohail drove his vehicle into a side entrance of the Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway five times, knocking the door off its hinges and destroying the front bumper of his car.
Before driving toward the building, Sohail waved pedestrians away, a fact Judge Vitaliano referenced before ordering him to pay $20,000 in restitution.
The complex at 770 Eastern Parkway houses a synagogue and offices and was busy with people at the time of the incident, authorities said.
Before sentencing, prosecutors pointed to statistics showing what they described as “a staggering” increase in anti-Jewish offenses, noting that 80 of the 146 hate crime incidents recorded in New York City since the beginning of the year involved crimes targeting Jews or Jewish institutions.
The court ultimately imposed a sentence that will keep Sohail in custody for about one additional week before his release.
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