LINDENHURST, FL – In a recent court ruling, Johnathan Wright of Lindenhurst has been found guilty of assault, witness tampering, and other related charges. The verdict came after a jury trial, where it was revealed that Wright had repeatedly burned two women with a hot clothing iron in a hotel room in Ronkonkoma back in July 2021. He had also dissuaded the victims from seeking medical attention for their injuries and attempted to coerce one of them into recanting her story to the police.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney commended the bravery of the women for coming forward and thanked law enforcement and prosecutors for ensuring that Wright is held accountable for his actions. The trial revealed that Wright had been staying at the hotel with the two women, one of whom had mental disabilities. On the day of the incident, he became enraged when the women fell asleep while giving him a back massage.
Wright proceeded to physically assault the women, choking and punching them, and even attempting to push them out of the hotel window. He then ordered them to strip naked and tied them together with a belt. While the victims were restrained, he took a clothing iron and burned them repeatedly, threatening them with escalating violence if they made any noise.
The assault lasted for several hours before Wright allowed the women to shower and fell asleep himself. In the aftermath, he prevented the victims from seeking medical treatment for their burns and discouraged them from reporting the assault to the police. It wasn’t until one of the victims returned home and received help from her mother that the incident was reported.
Following his arrest in August 2021, Wright used a correctional facility phone line to contact the victims in violation of court orders. During these conversations, he attempted to bribe one of the women to retract her statement and threatened both victims and their families with violence if they continued to cooperate with law enforcement. These recorded calls alerted authorities to Wright’s attempts to tamper with the witnesses.
On March 28, 2024, Wright was convicted on 46 charges, including assault, endangering the welfare of a disabled person, tampering with a witness, and criminal contempt. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30, 2024, and could face up to 50 years in prison. Wright is currently being represented by Ian Fitzgerald, Esq.
The case is being prosecuted by 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 support 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 Sheriff’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative Unit.
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