HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROSECUTION RESULTS IN SENTENCING OF LINDENHURST MAN TO 32.5 to 40 YEARS IN PRISON

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Johnathan Wright, 34, of Lindenhurst, was sentenced to 32 ½  to 40 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision after a jury found him guilty in March of  assault, witness tampering, and other related charges, for repeatedly burning two women in July 2021 with a hot clothing iron in a Ronkonkoma hotel room, dissuading them from seeking medical attention afterwards and then attempting to have one of the victims recant her story to police after his arrest.

“Justice has been served today, but our support for these victims does not end here,” said District Attorney Tierney. “We will continue to advocate for their rights, provide them with the resources they need and ensure their voices are heard.”

The evidence at trial established that in July 2021, Wright was staying at a Ronkonkoma hotel for several nights with two women, one of whom suffered from mental disabilities. On July 21, 2021, Wright became enraged with the women because they fell asleep while giving him a back massage. Wright began choking and punching the women in their faces and bodies and attempted to push the women out of the hotel window. He then ordered the women to strip naked and proceeded to tie them together with a belt.

While the women were tied up, Wright took a clothing iron from the hotel bathroom, plugged it in, and began holding the hot iron to their skin, repeatedly burning them all over their bodies. Wright warned the women not to scream and threatened that the burning would get worse if they made noise. The assault continued for three to four hours before Wright ordered the women into the shower while he fell asleep on the hotel bed.

The evidence further established that Wright refused to allow the victims to seek medical treatment for their burns or report the assault to police for weeks after the assault, instead treating the victims himself by placing paper towels on their injuries. When one of the victims returned to her home in Coram in August 2021, the victim’s mother helped her to report the assault to police.

On August 17, 2021, Wright was arrested for the assault and held in custody on bail as he awaited trial. From the time of his incarceration in August 2021 through February 2023, Wright used a correctional facility phone line to make repeated phone calls to the victims in violation of court- issued orders of protection. During the recorded phone calls, Wright attempted to bribe one of the women to recant her statement to police and threatened both victims and their families with violence should they continue to cooperate with law enforcement. Members of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Suffolk County Police Department, and Suffolk County Sherriff’s Office monitored these recorded calls made by Wright and learned of his efforts to tamper with the witnesses.

On March 28, 2024, Wright was convicted of the following 46 charges after a jury trial heard before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro:

• Four counts of Assault in the First Degree, Class B violent felonies;
• One count of Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent or Physically Disabled Person in the First Degree, a Class E felony;
• One count of Bribing a Witness, a Class D felony;
• One count of Tampering with a Witness in the Third Degree, a Class E felony;
• One count of Criminal Contempt in the First Degree, a Class E felony;
• Six counts of Tampering with a Witness in the Fourth Degree; Class A misdemeanors; and
• Thirty-Two counts of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree, Class A misdemeanors.

On May 7, 2024, Justice Ambro sentenced Wright to 32 ½ to 40 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. He was represented by Ian Fitzgerald, Esq.

This case was prosecuted by former Assistant District Attorney Anne E. Oh of the Human Trafficking, Elder Abuse, Anti-Bias Team (HEAT) Unit and Jonathan Cappiello of the Major Crimes Bureau, with assistance from paralegal Tanya Jones of the Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau. The investigation was conducted by Detectives Timothy Cohen and Kathleen Aspromgos of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit with assistance from the Suffolk County Sherriff’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative Unit.

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