'Real Housewives Of NJ' Star From Bergen County Gets 7 Years In Prison

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Bergen County resident Tommy Manzo — who has appeared on the reality show "Real Housewives of New Jersey" — was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for having hired a Lucchese crime family member to assault his ex-wife's boyfriend, federal officials said.

Manzo, 59, of Franklin Lakes, was convicted on June 4, 2024 after a two and a half week trial in Newark. Prosecutors said that he had hired a Lucchese family "soldier" to assault reality star Dina Manzo's boyfriend (now husband) in 2015, in exchange for a wedding reception at Manzo's banquet hall.

"Whether you’re actually in the Mafia or not, hiring the mob to assault someone because of your marital problems is abhorrent," said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger on Tuesday. "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.”

The jury convicted Manzo 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.

In the first season of the show, Dina and Tommy Manzo both appeared, discussing their on-again, off-again relationship. Dina's sister coincidentally is married to Thomas Manzo's brother, who also appears on the show, but was not implicated in any of the crimes.

The U.S. Attorney's Office released these details, which they said were laid out in the court documents and during the trial.

Paid With A Wedding Reception

The following is a verbatim rundown of the events in the case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark:

• In the spring of 2015, Manzo, a co-owner of The Brownstone, a Paterson, New Jersey, catering hall, hired Lucchese Crime Family soldier John Perna to assault his ex-wife’s then-boyfriend, paying for the assault with a free wedding reception.
• Perna, a “made man” with his own crew, worked with them to carry out the assault on July 18, 2015. The Perna wedding, held in August 2015 at the Brownstone, was attended by approximately 330 people, many of whom also were members of the Lucchese Crime Family.
• Four years later, Manzo concealed and falsified documents related to the Perna wedding in response to a grand jury subpoena.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Susan Wigenton sentenced Manzo to three years of supervised release and ordered him immediately taken to prison.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark, with the investigation leading to the conviction.

Dina Responds

Dina posted a message on Instagram Thursday, writing, "So. many layers...so much emotion. I'm leaning into all of it. Eventually I will speak on every bit of it...lots of self control not to send the text or make the call."

Her fans responded by saying people should have supported her, with one writing, "You don’t need to make any calls or texts. They should be calling or texting YOU, with an apology! For choosing to stand behind a man that did what he did. Period!"

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