The ex-husband of a former star of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” was sentenced to 7 years in prison for hiring, then assisting a reputed mobster to assault his ex-wife's current husband, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Thomas Manzo, 59, of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, whose former wife Dina Cantin appeared in the hit Bravo reality show, was convicted on June 4, 2024, after a two-and-a-half week trial before Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court, officials said.
Manzo was convicted of one count of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering, one count of conspiracy to commit a violent crime in aid of racketeering, and one count of falsifying and concealing documents related to a federal investigation.
According to court documents, in the spring of 2015, Manzo — a co-owner of The Brownstone, a catering hall in New Jersey — hired John Perna, a Lucchese Crime Family soldier, to assault his ex-wife’s then-boyfriend, paying for the assault with a free wedding reception.
Officials said Perna and his crew worked to carry out the assault on July 18, 2015. Then, in August of 2015, Perna's wedding — which was attended by 330 people, many of whom are also members of the Lucchese Crime Family — was held at the Brownstone.
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Four years later, officials said Manzo concealed and falsified documents related to the Perna wedding in response to a grand jury subpoena.
In addition to the 84-month prison term, Judge Wigenton sentenced Manzo to three years of supervised release and ordered him immediately remanded, according to officials.
“Whether you’re actually in the Mafia or not, hiring the mob to assault someone because of your marital problems is abhorrent,” U.S. Attorney Sellinger said. “Covering up the role you played only makes it worse. The jury’s verdict, and today’s sentence, make clear that this office will spare no resources to hold accountable anyone who commits such crimes.”
