Chris Brown Assault Trial -- Ordered Dragged and Shackled to D.C.

Chris Brown may be yanked out of L.A. County Jail next month, shackled and put on Con Air bound for Washington D.C. ... where he will stand trial for allegedly assaulting a man.

The judge in the D.C. assault case has signed an order -- obtained by TMZ -- commanding the honchos at L.A. County Jail to release Chris to the U.S. Marshal.

The Rihanna judge has already ordered Chris to stay in the slammer until his April 17 D.C. assault trial, but the judge never determined how he would get there.

Even though the D.C. judge imposed the order Wednesday ... it's not a done deal. The Rihanna judge must sign off before the U.S. Marshal is able to grab the singer.

Chris' lawyer, Mark Geragos, opposes the order and says Chris is more than willing to voluntarily fly to D.C.