A direct descendant of George Washington claims he was sentenced to 15 years in jail over a St. Tropez bar brawl because his opponent is connected to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. As Page Six reported last March, John Augustin Washington V, 47, smashed English banker Colin Hall over the head with a vodka bottle in July 2006 at club Les Caves du Roy. The men were fighting over a woman. Hall recovered after five days in a coma. Washington’s lawyers say he’s being persecuted because of pressure applied by Hall’s rich “protector,” his friend and boss, banker Robert Agostinelli, a close friend of Sarkozy. In a phone message Washington’s lawyer played in court, Agostinelli says, “Dear John, I want you to remember my name because you are going to remember it all your life! . . . the hunting dogs are after you . . . they will transform your life into a puff of smoke!” A decision on Washington’s appeal is due in January.