New Jersey man who rammed car into Brooklyn synagogue sentenced to time served and a week

US judge says case involved a property crime, not a hate crime, and orders mental health treatment

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A New Jersey man who rammed his car into a Brooklyn, New York , synagogue earlier this year has been sentenced to time served plus seven days.

Dan Sohail, 36, of Carteret, New Jersey, was sentenced on Wednesday by US district judge Eric Vitaliano in federal court in Brooklyn, according to court records. Sohail had pleaded guilty in May to damaging religious property and has already spent about six months in custody.

The incident occurred on 28 January, when Sohail drove his car into the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn several times. No one was injured.

In addition to his sentence, the judge ordered Sohail to pay more than $19,000 in restitution, according to court records. Courthouse News reported that Sohail must also undergo mandatory mental health treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a personality disorder.

Ahead of sentencing, federal prosecutors urged the court to impose a longer sentence of 14 months’ imprisonment. In a sentencing memorandum, they argued that “the defendant’s crime did not occur in a vacuum.”

“Instead, the defendant rammed his car into one of the most visible Jewish institutions in the world at a time and in a city where anti-Jewish crimes are surging,” they wrote. “The Court’s sentence should send a clear message that attacks on religious people and institutions will be met with stiff punishment.”

Judge Vitaliano reportedly criticized the justice department for seeking a more severe sentence than the guidelines call for, and emphasized that Sohail was charged with a property crime, according to the New York Times and the Associated Press .

“A property crime is what was charged here,” the judge said. “Not a hate crime.”

Sohail was initially charged by state prosecutors with hate crimes, but those charges were later dropped. He ultimately was charged by federal prosecutors with damaging religious property.

During the sentencing hearing, the judge also noted Sohail’s mental health struggles and said that he needed treatment. Sohail reportedly told authorities that he was in the process of converting to Judaism before the incident.

In a letter submitted before sentencing, Sohail’s attorneys wrote that he had “desperately sought belonging and understanding through his exploration of Judaism” and that in January, “gripped by mental illness, Mr Sohail irrationally drove his vehicle into the Chabad Headquarters – 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,” they wrote. “Though illogical and severely misguided, his conduct brought him here, to this crossroads. Mr Sohail has spent six months in custody reflecting on his circumstances. Fueled by remorse and regret, he recognizes that he needs support and he welcomes it.”