Ex-Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano's resentencing on corruption charges postponed

A federal judge agreed on Wednesday to postpone the resentencing of former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, who was convicted in 2019 of corruption charges for orchestrating a municipal loan guarantee to benefit a friend in exchange for bribes, until next year.

Mangano's resentencing is now scheduled for Jan. 15; he was supposed to be have been resentenced on Dec. 4.

U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack agreed to the delay after attorneys for Mangano said they needed extra time to review a presentence report that is expected to be filed next week by the U.S. Probation Department.

The defense team wants to incorporate the report’s findings in papers it will submit to the court before the former county executive’s resentencing hearing, Mangano attorney Morris J. Fodeman said in a letter to Azrack filed on Tuesday.

Mangano, a Republican and two-term county executive, began serving a 12-year sentence in 2022. He was scheduled to appear before Azrack on Dec. 4 for resentencing after an appeals court dismissed two of his convictions.

A Central Islip jury convicted Mangano at a 2019 retrial of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, federal programs bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice for his role in directing Oyster Bay Town officials to indirectly back what amounted to $20 million in loans for restaurateur and town concessionaire Harendra Singh.

Singh, who was the government's star witness in the two Mangano trials, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for his role in the scheme.

In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Mangano’s convictions on the federal programs bribery and conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery charges, saying that Mangano, an elected county official, was not an "agent" of Oyster Bay.

The appeals court affirmed Mangano’s convictions on the remaining charges.

Eastern District of New York prosecutors have said they plan to ask the court to reimpose Mangano’s original 12-year sentence.

Also on Wednesday, Azrack rejected Fodeman’s request for the judge to recommend a one-day furlough for Mangano so he could attend the resentencing hearing in person. Fodeman’s letter said the warden of Federal Medical Center Devens in Massachusetts can authorize a furlough for an inmate to appear at a criminal court proceeding, but only if a request is first made by the court or a prosecutor.

Mangano has earned "community confinement status" at FMC Devens, Fodeman wrote.

"He is routinely permitted to leave the facility unsupervised to carry out his job responsibilities," the letter said. "We therefore submit that he is not a flight risk."

Mangano was scheduled for resentencing on Oct. 9, but his Attorneys asked for a delay until next month, also because they wanted to review the updated presentence report.

Prosecutors said Mangano took several bribes in exchange for helping secure the indirect loan guarantees, including a $454,000 "no-show" job for his wife, free meals and vacations, two luxury chairs, hardwood flooring for the couple’s bedroom and a $7,300 wristwatch for one of their sons, according to testimony at trial.

His wife, Linda Mangano, was convicted of lying to the FBI, conspiring to commit obstruction of justice and obstruction of justice.

Linda Mangano served about 5 months of a 15-month sentence in a federal prison camp in Danbury, Connecticut, before she was released to home confinement.

The first trial of Mangano and his wife ended in a mistrial, while Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto was acquitted. Venditto later pleaded guilty to state corruption charges as part of a plea deal that spared him jail time. He died in 2020.