Ex-husband of ‘Real Housewives’ star gets seven years in prison for hiring a gangster to assault her boyfriend

NEWARK, NJ, Oct 16 (AP): The ex-husband of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member Dina Manzo was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for hiring an alleged mobster to attack her boyfriend in return for the defendant who hosted a lavish wedding reception for the attacker.

Thomas Manzo, 59, of Franklin Lakes, will also serve three years of supervised release once he is released under the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton. A federal jury convicted him in June of conspiracy, falsifying and concealing documents, and committing a violent crime in furtherance of racketeering activities.

Federal prosecutors say Manzo hired John Perna, whom they describe as a Lucchese crime family soldier, to carry out the July 2015 attack in which the friend was struck with a gun. Perna’s wedding reception was held the following month at a Paterson restaurant partly owned by Thomas Manzo, prosecutors said.

Perna pleaded guilty in December 2020 to committing a violent crime in support of racketeering activities and was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. He was released in August 2023. Dina Manzo’s boyfriend is now her husband.