AIN'T THAT A KICK BY FEDS
'Mob-tied' reality ex re-charged after toss
Just when he thought he was out, the feds pulled him back in.
Tommy Manzo, the ex-husband of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dina Manzo, is facing a new set of federal racketeering charges — just a month after a judge dismissed the last case against him because prosecutors took too long to bring it to trial.
The new charges against Manzo — outlined in a three-count indictment filed last week in Newark federal court — are much the same as the old charges, which claim he hired a Mafioso from the Lucchese crime family to rough up his famous ex’s new beau back in 2015.
Tommy Manzo will be arraigned in Newark on Tuesday afternoon on one count each of violent crime in aid of racketeering activity, conspiracy to commit an assault with a dangerous weapon and falsifying and concealing records related to a federal investigation.
His attorney, Zach Intrater, declined to comment Monday.
The new indictment is the latest chapter in a yearslong drama that began when the feds first indicted the 58-year-old restaurateur in 2020 for allegedly cutting a deal with mob capo John Perna to beat down David Cantin, Dina Manzo’s then-boyfriend.
In return, Tommy Manzo offered a deeply discounted wedding at his Paterson, NJ, catering hall, The Brownstone, according to the allegations.
‘Revenge’ slapjacking
“Manzo was outraged that his former wife became romantically involved with another man,” prosecutors said in court documents. “Rather than accept that, as lawabiding individuals do, Manzo wanted to extract physical revenge. Unwilling or incapable of doing so directly, he leveraged his catering hall.”
Perna and a man from his crew caught up with Cantin in July 2015 and worked him over with a slapjack in the parking lot of a North Jersey strip mall. The savage attack left Cantin battered and scarred, court documents said.
The mob associate — who lives in Cedar Grove, NJ, and is the son of former mob capo Ralph Perna — pleaded guilty to committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity and was sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
He was released last August, according to jail records.
Meanwhile, Manzo remained free on bail as the case against him moved along at a glacial pace.
Late last month, federal Judge Susan Wigenton finally dismissed the charges, agreeing with both Manzo’s attorneys and prosecutors that the feds violated Manzo’s rights under the Speedy Trial Act.
But she did so without prejudice — which allowed prosecutors to quickly re-indict Manzo, who lives in ritzy Franklin Lakes, NJ.
It’s not the only case that threatens to put Manzo behind bars.
He still has pending state charges that allege he and another man broke into Dave and Dina’s home in Holmdel, NJ, and beat them with bats before robbing them in May 2017. The next hearing in that case is scheduled for April 29.