Dina Manzo's ex-husband Thomas Manzo has been sentenced to seven years in prison, after he was found guilty of hiring a mobster to assault her then-boyfriend, now husband, David Cantin.
The ex spouse, 59, of the former Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 52, was sentenced on Tuesday, as per CBS News, following his conviction in June.
The judge also sentenced Thomas to three years of supervised release and ordered him to be immediately remanded.
The case goes back to a 2020 indictment when Manzo was accused of making a deal with a soldier in the Lucchese crime family to attack David, 44, in a North Jersey parking lot five years earlier in 2015.
'Whether you're actually in the Mafia or not, hiring the mob to assault someone because of your marital problems is abhorrent. Covering up the role you played only makes it worse,' U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a statement.
Dina Manzo's, 52, ex-husband Thomas Manzo, 59, has been sentenced to seven years in prison; Dina seen in 2014
He was found guilty of hiring a mobster to assault her then-boyfriend, now husband, David Cantin, 44; she is pictured with her ex-husband in a throwback image
'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 restaurateur originally faced up to 46 years in prison.
Following news of Thomas’ sentencing, Dina took to Instagram Stories to share a telling quote.
It read: 'Because at the end of the day, the right people fight for you. The right people show up. The right people care, not only when life is convenient, but when it is difficult and messy and it aches all over.'
She also shared a quote on her Instagram following his conviction In June.
'I call my power back to me. I call my energy back to me. I call my magic back to me,' she wrote in the statement. 'I am cleansed and disconnected from anything that may drain me. I am shielded from any energy that does not serve me.
'I am safe. I am protected. I am whole. And so it is,' added Manzo.
Her post came after Thomas was convicted of contracting John Perna to assault David — whom Dina later married in 2017 — in exchange for a free, lavish wedding reception.
A federal jury found Thomas guilty of conspiracy, falsifying and concealing documents, and committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity.
The judge also sentenced Thomas to three years of supervised release and ordered him to be immediately remanded
Following news of Thomas’ sentencing, Dina took to Instagram Stories to share a telling quote
The case goes back to a 2020 indictment when Manzo was accused of making a deal with a mobster to attack David in a North Jersey parking lot in 2015; Dina pictured with David
Prosecutors said Dina's ex ordered the attack because he was angry Dina had moved in with Dave after they separated
Mobster John Perna, 44 — a member of the Lucchese crime family — was found guilty of the 2015 attack in 2021, and sentenced to two-and-half years
In exchange for carrying out the attack, prosecutors say Manzo allowed Perna to host a lavish wedding reception at his Brownstone Restaurant (pictured) in Paterson, New Jersey for a fraction of the price
Federal prosecutors said Thomas hired John to commit the July 2015 attack against David in the parking lot of a Garden State strip mall.
The following month, Perna's wedding reception was held at the Paterson, New Jersey restaurant The Brownstone, which is partly owned by Thomas.
Perna pleaded guilty in December 2020 to committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity.
He received a two-and-a-half-year sentence the following year and was ordered by the court to remit $17,816 in restitution fees. Perna was released from custody last August.
Amid a police probe into the attack on David, the jury found that Thomas had hid information and lied on documents when subpoenaed by a grand jury, according to ABC News.
Thomas had been infuriated about his then-estranged wife Dina's romance with David and wanted his attackers to 'leave a permanent facial scar' in the planned assault, according to court docs reviewed by ABC.
Earlier this year, Thomas asked a federal judge overseeing the case to throw it out, citing its unusually long history of delays, according to the New York Post.
His attorneys Marc Agnifilo and Zach Intrater said that the restaurateur had been denied his right to a 'speedy trial' in the case, in which he was indicted in 2020, five years after the attack.
They cited the federal Speedy Trial Act of 1974 in their argument for tossing the case.
'The last day that Mr. Manzo could have been brought to trial on the Indictment in compliance with the [law] was December 10, 2022,' Thomas' lawyers said in a court filing on January 19. 'But no effective continuance was signed until nearly eleven months later.'
The incident left Cantin, who married Dina in 2017, with a permanent facial scar
Following his conviction In June, Dina shared a post to her Instagram Stories, writing, 'I am safe. I am protected. I am whole'
Dina (seen here in 2010) starred in seasons one, two, and six of Real Housewives of New Jersey and also appeared as a guest in season four
Thomas' attorneys said there was 'no question that there has been a violation' of the federal statute, and that his indictment 'must be dismissed.'
They described their client as 'a respected businessman who looks forward to these charges being dismissed so that he can get back to his family and the work that he loves.'
Dina and Manzo broke up in 2012 and divorced in 2016, with their marriage on the way out at the time of the assault.
Dina appeared on the first two seasons of The Real Housewives Of New Jersey in 2009-2010 before returning in 2014 for season six.
She appeared alongside her siblings Caroline Manzo (seasons 1-5) as well as brother and sister-in-law Chris and Jacqueline Laurita (seasons 1-5). She is the Godmother to co-star Teresa Giudice's youngest daughter, Audriana, 10.
She has one daughter from a previous relationship, Alexia Ioannou, 23, who was born in 1996.
