Edward P. Mangano, the former Nassau County executive who participated in a bribery and kickback scheme for years, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison for his role in what prosecutors called “a culture of corruption” at the heart of the state. Republican Government of Long Island. political machine.
Mr Mangano, 60, was convicted in March 2019 of, among other things, bribery and wire transfer fraud. It was the second lawsuit in the case, after the first ended in mistrial in 2018. He was acquitted on two counts, including a charge of racketeering.
Mr Mangano’s wife Linda, 59, was convicted in the same trial on four days including making false statements and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced to 15 months in prison in a separate lawsuit on Thursday, including in federal court on Long Island.
Prosecutors at the trial showed that between 2010 and 2015, Mr. Mangano accepted bribes and kickbacks from a Long Island restaurant owner, Harendra Singh, in exchange for favorable official actions, including sending Mr Singh contracts and helping him earn about $ 20 million in loans.
Mr Mangano received an expensive massage chair, new hardwood floors and a $7,300 watch from Mr Singh, the government said. Mr Singh also helped arrange and subsidize a Mangano family trip to Turks and Caicos, prosecutors said.
When authorities got wind of Mr. Mangano’s activities, prosecutors said, the Manganos colluded to derail a grand jury investigation — and Ms. Mangano lied to the FBI about a no-show job she held as ‘food taster’ at one of Singh’s restaurants, Water’s Edge, for which she was paid more than $450,000.
Mr Singh himself has been at the center of several public corruption investigations led by federal prosecutors in New York, centering on his affairs and political connections.
In 2016, Mr Singh pleaded guilty to bribing Mr Mangano and confessed to his role in other bribery schemes involving Long Island officials. He has not yet been convicted.
He also secretly admitted to trying to bribe former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Since their arrest in 2016, the Manganos have steadfastly maintained their innocence and have sought to overturn the conviction. In a memo to the court filed prior to the sentencing, Mr Mangano’s attorney Kevin J. Keating said Mr Singh, the government’s lead witness, had lied during the trial and said the prosecutors would continue their case. had not proved.
Mr Keating did not immediately respond to a request for comment after Thursday’s sentencing.
Mr Keating asked for “significant leniency” in the sentencing and said Mr Mangano would continue to seek waiver. The US law firm for the Eastern District of New York, which also includes Long Island, demanded a sentence of more than 17 years, citing its “brutal use of a government position to enrich itself”. Prosecutors asked Judge Joan M. Azrack for a 30-month prison sentence for Ms. Mangano.
In their sentencing memorandum filed last month, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Mangano was “guilty of an astonishing abuse of power” from the time he took office in 2010. They noted that he never took responsibility for the convicted crimes, saying Ms. Mangano “shows a total lack of remorse.”