Tommy Manzo, the ex-husband of RHONJ OG Dina Manzo has been freed on bail as he awaits trial. Get all the details.
The New York Post reports that Tommy Manzo has been freed on bail after posting a $100,000 bond ahead of his May racketeering trail for allegedly hiring a mobster to beat up the now-husband of his ex-wife Dina Manzo.
Tommy Manzo, who is a New Jersey based restaurateur and co-owns The Brownstone in Paterson with his brother Albert Manzo, surrendered his passport and cannot travel outside of New Jersey and New York as part of his bail agreement.
The much-anticipated trial is set to being May 20.
Federal authorities claims Tommy recruited Lucchese crime family member, John Perna, to rough up David Cantin, the then-boyfriend, now-husband, of his ex-wife Dina Manzo, in 2015.
In return for completing the attack, Tommy promised Perna a deeply discounted wedding at The Brownstone in Paterson, NJ.
In July 2015, Perna and an associate attacked Cantin and roughed him up with a slapjack in the parking lot of a North Jersey strip mall. The attack left Cantin battered and scarred, according to court papers.
Five years later, Tommy and Perna were arrested and incited for their crimes. Perna pleaded guilty to “committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity.” He was sentenced to almost three years in prison and was released in August 2023.
However, Tommy’s case has taken a much longer and rockier road. After the case against Tommy endured many stops and starts, the government dismissed the charges without prejudice earlier this year because it violated the New Jersey restaurateur’s right to a speedy trial.
Last month the feds re-indicted Tommy Manzo on the same charges which include one count 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.”
He is also still facing pending state charges over allegations he and another man broke into Dina and Dave’s Holmdel, NJ home where they bound and beat the couple before robbing them in May 2017.
A hearing in that case is scheduled for April 29.
Dina married Tommy in 2005. The two split in 2012 but didn’t officially divorce until 2016. Her sister and fellow RHONJ alum Caroline Manzo is married to Tommy’s older brother, Albert.
Season 14 of RHONJ premieres Sunday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET.
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