Up To 40 Years For Long Island Man Who Burned Women With Iron In Hotel

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Suffolk man was sentenced to 32 1⁄2 to 40 years in prison in connection with his repeatedly burning two women with a hot clothing iron inside a hotel room, then dissuading them from seeking medical care afterward and trying to have one of them recant her story after his arrest, District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

In July 2021, Jonathan Wright, 34, of Lindenhurst, was staying at a Ronkonkoma hotel for several nights with two women, one of whom suffered from mental disabilities, and on the 21st, he became enraged with the women because they fell asleep while giving him a back massage, prosecutors said, adding that he began choking and punching the women in their faces and bodies and tried to push them out of the hotel window.

Then he ordered them to remove all their clothes and tied them together with a belt, and while the women were tied up, he 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, prosecutors said.

Wright warned them not to scream and threatened that the burning would get worse if they
made noise, with the assault continuing for three to four hours before Wright ordered the women into the shower while he fell asleep on the hotel bed, according to prosecutors.

Evidence further established he refused to allow the women to seek medical care for their burns or report the assault to police for weeks after the assault, instead treating them himself by placing paper towels on their injuries, prosecutors said, adding that when one of them returned to her home in Coram in August 2021, her mother helped her make a report to Suffolk police.

Wright was arrested on Aug. 17, 2021, and was held in custody on bail as he awaited
trial, and from the time of his incarceration through February 2023, he used a correctional facility phone line to make repeated phone calls to the women in violation of court-issued orders of protection, prosecutors said.

During the recorded phone calls, Wright tried to bribe one of the women to recant her statement to police and threatened both of them and their families with violence should they continue to cooperate with law enforcement, prosecutors said, adding that the DA's office, police department, and Sherriff’s office monitored the recorded calls made by him and learned of his efforts to tamper with the witnesses.

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

Wright's attorney, Ian Fitzgerald of Central Islip, declined comment.

Wright was convicted after a jury trial in March of 46 charges, including four counts of first-degree assault, one count of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, and one count of bribing a witness.

He was additionally convicted of one count each of third-degree tampering with a witness, first-degree criminal contempt, and six counts of fourth-degree tampering with a witness, as well as 32 counts of second-degree criminal contempt.