Former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and his wife, Linda, was sentenced to 15 months in prison after the couple was convicted of corruption charges.
Judge Joan M. Azrack also ordered Ed to pay a $20,000 fine and ordered Linda to 1,000 hours of community service.
“From the moment he was elected, Edward Mangano sold himself and his office,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “He
cashed in the power, the resources, and the influence of his office to enrich himself and
his wife. For Ed Mangano, public service was self-service.”
A jury had convicted the disgraced Republican lawmaker of accepting bribes and kickbacks in exchange for official government action, but acquitted him of extortion and honest services wire fraud, following a trial in 2019 at Central Islip federal court. Linda was convicted of lying to investigators. They were both convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Prosecutors said the ex-county exec awarded government contracts to restaurateur Harendra Singh, his former friend, in exchange for giving Mangano’s wife a $100,000-a-year no-show job, vacations, an expensive watch, furniture and hardwood flooring for his house.
The conviction followed a retrial after the couple’s first case ended in a mistrial in 2018 following nine days of jury deliberations and a three-month-long trial in which their codefendant, former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto, a fellow Republican, was acquitted of charges he improperly backed a private company’s loans with taxpayer money. Although cleared in federal court, Venditto pleaded guilty to corruption charges in Nassau County court a year before he died in 2020.
Sign up for Long Island Press’ email newsletters here. Sign up for home delivery of Long Island Press here. Sign up for discounts by becoming a Long Island Press community partner here.
