Ex-Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano wants Supreme Court to review his corruption conviction, court papers show

Ex-Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, who is serving a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges but recently saw an appeals court overturn two of the charges he was convicted of, is requesting that his resentencing be put on hold until he petitions the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case.

Mangano’s attorneys, in a filing last month, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District to delay scheduling his resentencing before U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack in Central Islip, arguing his petition to the nation’s highest court would "present substantial questions of law" and should be considered before he is resentenced.

"Conducting such a resentencing before receiving a ruling from the Supreme Court would waste scarce party and judicial resources," Mangano’s attorneys from Manhattan-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati wrote. "Moreover, the government will suffer no prejudice from a stay because Mangano is currently imprisoned and will not be released while his petition is pending. Counsel has notified the government of this motion, and the government does not oppose this motion and does not intend to file a response."

A spokesman for the Eastern District of New York prosecutors, who tried Mangano, declined to comment Monday.

In February, the appeals court reversed Mangano’s 2019 felony conviction on two bribery counts — federal programs bribery and conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery. The appeals court concluded Mangano was not "an agent" of the town, and therefore didn’t have authority to act on behalf of the town, which was a requirement of the statute.

Mangano, 63, is not scheduled to be released from prison until Dec. 4, 2031. He began serving his sentence in 2022.

Mangano’s attorneys, in seeking a delay of the resentencing, said their case for petitioning the Supreme Court to review and ultimately overturn Mangano’s convictions will center on two other corruption convictions that were overturned by the Supreme Court — those of Joe Percoco, former aide to ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

"Under the Opinion’s new rule, a public official can be criminally liable for using "political clout," with neither the legal force nor formal authority of his office, to influence a person in another government," Mangano’s lawyers wrote. "That result cannot be squared with the Supreme Court’s concerns with prohibiting political actors from exercising informal ‘clout’ or ‘very strong influence’ in public affairs."

A jury convicted Mangano in 2019 of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program 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. A lawyer for the town had said the transaction was illegal.

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

Linda Mangano spent about  5 months out of a 15-month sentence in a federal prison camp before she was released to home confinement.

The first trial of Mangano and his wife Linda Mangano ended in a mistrial, while Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto was acquitted.

Singh testified he bribed Edward Mangano with 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.

The Manganos, through their attorneys, argued at trial the bribes were only gifts from their longtime family friend.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.