NEW YORK — On Wednesday, July 29th, 2026, Dan Sohail, 36, was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to six months and one week in prison for ramming his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters, a Jewish institution located at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. Authorities noted the complex, which includes a synagogue and offices, was bustling with people at the time of the incident.

The judge declined prosecutors' recommendation to extend Sohail's detention by an additional eight months. Sohail, a New Jersey resident, has already spent six months in detention and is expected to be released in about a week.

Before driving toward the building, Sohail waved passersby away, a detail the judge cited when ordering him to pay $20,000 in restitution.

Defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg explained in court documents that Sohail was battling depression and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a traumatic childhood. She stated that Sohail carried out the attack while “desperately seeking belonging and understanding through his exploration of Judaism.” Eisner-Grynberg added that Sohail “danced with them” and followed instructions to visit Israel but became erratic and extremely anxious upon returning to the United States, even “begging” members of the Chabad for assistance.

The site of the attack was also the epicenter of the 1991 Crown Heights riots, during which Black residents of the neighborhood attacked Jews after a child was killed by a car traveling in Schneerson’s motorcade.

Prosecutors had sought a harsher sentence as a warning amid a rise in hate crimes targeting Jewish communities. However, Vitaliano expressed being “somewhat saddened” that the Justice Department wanted the sentencing influenced by what he described as a mistaken initial public impression.

Sources