A New Jersey resident admitted in federal court on Wednesday that he intentionally drove his vehicle into the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights during a memorial gathering earlier this year, causing damage to the building’s entrance while dozens of people were inside.

Dan Sohail, 36, of Carteret, New Jersey, entered a guilty plea in Brooklyn federal court to a charge of intentionally damaging religious property. The federal civil rights offense carries a potential penalty of up to three years behind bars, fines reaching $250,000, and approximately $19,000 in restitution payments to the synagogue.

As part of the agreement, federal authorities did not file hate crime charges against Sohail. Prosecutors told the court that the recommended federal sentencing range is estimated at zero to six months in prison.

The plea agreement brings an end to the federal prosecution stemming from the January 28 incident, when Sohail drove his 2012 Honda Accord repeatedly into a side entrance of the synagogue located at 770 Eastern Parkway. The crash took place during a gathering commemorating the yahrtzeit of the Chabad movement’s spiritual leader. Although many people were present inside the building at the time, no injuries were reported.

Court documents state that Sohail arrived at the entrance shortly before 8:40 p.m., exited his vehicle, removed security stanchions, and motioned for people near the doorway to step aside.

According to prosecutors, Sohail then got back into the car and slammed into the entrance before backing up and striking the doorway four additional times. Authorities said the repeated collisions ripped the door from its hinges and destroyed the front bumper of the vehicle.

The building at 770 Eastern Parkway is regarded internationally as the center of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and has functioned for decades as both a synagogue and the residence of the movement’s leaders.

During the hearing before U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano, Sohail appeared wearing a Rikers Island-issued jumpsuit. He had long, disheveled hair and a thick beard. Speaking clearly and loudly, he acknowledged that he intentionally targeted the building.

“I drove to the building in order to intentionally damage the building,” he said. “I drove into the door because it is the Chabad headquarters.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brachah Goykadosh emphasized the repeated nature of the attack during the proceeding, telling the judge that Sohail “rammed his car not once, not twice, not three times, but four times.”

No relatives or friends of Sohail attended the hearing. However, he appeared to recognize a Chabad rabbi seated in the courtroom gallery and seemed to wave toward federal agents who were holding a plastic bag containing his belongings.

Investigators said that after his arrest, Sohail told law enforcement officials that he had recently discovered Jewish ancestry in his family background. According to the complaint, he said he had visited the Chabad headquarters before and had been invited to attend the event that evening. He also claimed that icy roads and the heavy boots he was wearing caused him to lose control of the car.

At the time of the incident, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said surveillance video showed Sohail parking several blocks from the synagogue, moving barricades away from the entrance, and clearing snow before driving into the structure.

The NYPD initially treated the matter as a possible hate crime investigation. However, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez later dismissed the state charges, and federal prosecutors concluded that there was insufficient evidence to secure a hate crime conviction.

Sohail is expected to be sentenced later this year following the completion of a presentence report by federal probation officers. Authorities said he will be moved from Rikers Island to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

{Matzav.com}