‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ Star’s Ex-husband Convicted for Hiring Mobster in Violent Attack
The ex-husband of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dina Manzo was convicted on Tuesday of hiring a mobster to beat up his former partner’s new lover, and he now faces more than four decades in prison.
According to federal authorities, Tommy Manzo, a prominent New Jersey restaurateur who lives in the affluent neighborhood of Franklin Lakes, organized the 2015 attack on Dina’s now-husband David Cantin and then recruited an alleged mafioso from the Lucchese crime family to carry it out.
According to the feds, Manzo, 59, promised his hired gun a free wedding at his catering hall, The Brownstone, in Paterson, New Jersey. Following a two-week trial in Newark federal court, Manzo was found guilty of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit a violent crime in aid of racketeering resulting in serious bodily injury, and concealing documents related to a federal investigation, according to a press release.
Taken together, the crimes may land him in prison for up to 43 years. “The facts and circumstances in this case read like something from a bad TV crime drama, but the evidence and testimony presented in court prove it was reality,” James E. Dennehy, director of the FBI’s Newark field office, said in a statement.
“We truly hope the victims in this investigation are able to move on with their lives and forget about Manzo and his criminal mafia bedfellows.”
In addition to jail time, Manzo could face fines of up to $500,000, according to the feds.
He will be sentenced on Oct. 15.
Zach Intrater, Manzo’s attorney, declined to comment Tuesday afternoon. The conviction concludes Manzo’s long case, which began when the feds accused him in 2020 of an assault they claimed occurred roughly five years earlier.
That’s when Manzo, whose family has owned The Brownstone since the 1970s, gave a heavily reduced wedding to mob boss John Perna of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, in exchange for roughing up Cantin.
“Manzo was outraged that his former wife became romantically involved with another man,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. “Rather than accept it, as law-abiding citizens do, Manzo sought physical vengeance. He used his catering hall since he wasn’t willing or able to do it directly.”
In July 2015, Perna and a member of his crew apprehended Cantin in the parking lot of a Passaic County strip mall and assaulted him with a slapjack, according to federal authorities.
According to court documents, the vicious attack left Cantin beaten and scarred. Perna, the son of former mob boss Ralph Perna, eventually pled guilty to committing a violent felony in aid of racketeering activity and was sentenced to over three years in jail.
Jail records show that he was freed in August of last year.
Meanwhile, Manzo remained free on bond as the case against him moved at a glacial pace. A federal court rejected the first set of accusations earlier this year, citing prosecutors’ excessive delay in bringing them to trial.
However, officials promptly re-indicted him, and the long-stalled case began to gain traction. His trial ultimately began on May 20. “As a unanimous jury found, Manzo committed multiple offenses by providing a free wedding in exchange for the assault and then concealing documents relating to that wedding,” US Attorney Philip Sellinger stated.
“He will now face just punishment for his crimes.” Manzo married Dina in an extravagant 2005 wedding captured on the VH1 reality show “My Big Fabulous Wedding.”
However, the pair broke in 2012 due to his alleged infidelity, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Kim DePaola told The Post in 2020 — though the couple did not officially divorce until 2016.