Linda Mangano, ex-Nassau first lady, begins prison sentence
Linda Mangano, wife of former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, in April. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Former Nassau County first lady Linda Mangano started her 15-month prison sentence Friday at a federal prison in Connecticut, nearly six years after authorities arrested her and her husband in a bribery scandal as he led Nassau County’s government.
Mangano, 59, is in a minimum-security satellite camp at a Danbury prison complex, about a two-hour drive from the Bethpage home of her and her husband, former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
Her surrender to prison officials followed three postponements amid two failed bids to stay free on bail as she challenges the 2019 conviction that followed two trials in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.
A federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman confirmed Mangano’s surrender in response to a Newsday inquiry.
“She is a strong woman and she is doing what she has to do and we’re working hard to complete her full appeal to the Second Circuit as quickly as possible," Linda Mangano's attorney, Bradley Simon, told Newsday.
A spokesman for the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment Friday.
A panel of judges from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dashed Linda Mangano’s last hope of staying free in a ruling Wednesday that denied her final motion for bail after arguments in the Manhattan court a day earlier.
A jury found Linda Mangano guilty of two counts of lying to the FBI, conspiring to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice in a case involving politically connected former restaurateur Harendra Singh, a longtime family friend.
The same jury found Edward Mangano, 60, guilty 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.
The former Republican leader remains free, without a specific date to surrender for his 12-year prison term, as his final bail motion is pending before the Second Circuit while he appeals his conviction.
Singh testified under a cooperation agreement with the prosecution in two pre-pandemic trials — the first ended in a mistrial — that he lavished Edward Mangano with bribes that included free meals and vacations, furniture, wood flooring and a $454,000 “no-show” job for Linda in his now-defunct restaurant empire.
The jury found the then-county executive used his influence to sway Town of Oyster Bay officials into indirectly backing $20 million in loans for Singh, a town concessionaire, after a lawyer for the town said that was illegal.
The jury also found the Manganos, who still maintain innocence, conspired to obstruct a grand jury probe by scheming with Singh to fabricate examples of work Linda supposedly did for his company.
Bureau of Prison records show she will be expected to work at Danbury, where there are 107 other inmates in the camp for female prisoners.
Linda Mangano has had a more than 30-year career in the fields of advertising, graphics and public relations and owned and published the Bethpage Tribune newspaper.
The mother of two also has been involved in community service organizations that include her hometown’s chamber of commerce and PTAs.
A new inmate’s first job assignment at Danbury typically involves working in food service or in a maintenance shop during a work day that stretches from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., according to the Inmate Admission & Orientation Handbook that is posted online.
With her incarceration, Linda Mangano has joined the ranks of other public figures who have served time at the Connecticut penitentiary that is nicknamed “Club Fed.”
Former inmates include hotel magnate Leona Helmsley, Teresa Giudice from “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” reality TV show, Grammy Award-winning singer Lauryn Hill and Piper Kerman, author of “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.”
Mangano will wear a uniform of government-issued green pants and green shirts and will have to limit jewelry to “a plain wedding band and an appropriate religious medallion and chain without stones.”
The stylish former politician’s wife will be allowed to have up to five pairs of shoes, including shower shoes, slippers and athletic shoes — the latter “with a maximum value of $100," according to the inmate handbook.
It also says she will have to store her personal property inside an assigned locker or foot locker and can keep one approved radio or MP3 player and a single wristwatch.
Former Nassau County first lady Linda Mangano started her 15-month prison sentence Friday at a federal prison in Connecticut, nearly six years after authorities arrested her and her husband in a bribery scandal as he led Nassau County’s government.
Mangano, 59, is in a minimum-security satellite camp at a Danbury prison complex, about a two-hour drive from the Bethpage home of her and her husband, former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
Her surrender to prison officials followed three postponements amid two failed bids to stay free on bail as she challenges the 2019 conviction that followed two trials in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.
A federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman confirmed Mangano’s surrender in response to a Newsday inquiry.
“She is a strong woman and she is doing what she has to do and we’re working hard to complete her full appeal to the Second Circuit as quickly as possible," Linda Mangano's attorney, Bradley Simon, told Newsday.
A spokesman for the Eastern District U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment Friday.
A panel of judges from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dashed Linda Mangano’s last hope of staying free in a ruling Wednesday that denied her final motion for bail after arguments in the Manhattan court a day earlier.
A jury found Linda Mangano guilty of two counts of lying to the FBI, conspiring to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice in a case involving politically connected former restaurateur Harendra Singh, a longtime family friend.
The same jury found Edward Mangano, 60, guilty 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.
The former Republican leader remains free, without a specific date to surrender for his 12-year prison term, as his final bail motion is pending before the Second Circuit while he appeals his conviction.
Singh testified under a cooperation agreement with the prosecution in two pre-pandemic trials — the first ended in a mistrial — that he lavished Edward Mangano with bribes that included free meals and vacations, furniture, wood flooring and a $454,000 “no-show” job for Linda in his now-defunct restaurant empire.
The jury found the then-county executive used his influence to sway Town of Oyster Bay officials into indirectly backing $20 million in loans for Singh, a town concessionaire, after a lawyer for the town said that was illegal.
The jury also found the Manganos, who still maintain innocence, conspired to obstruct a grand jury probe by scheming with Singh to fabricate examples of work Linda supposedly did for his company.
Bureau of Prison records show she will be expected to work at Danbury, where there are 107 other inmates in the camp for female prisoners.
Linda Mangano has had a more than 30-year career in the fields of advertising, graphics and public relations and owned and published the Bethpage Tribune newspaper.
The mother of two also has been involved in community service organizations that include her hometown’s chamber of commerce and PTAs.
A new inmate’s first job assignment at Danbury typically involves working in food service or in a maintenance shop during a work day that stretches from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., according to the Inmate Admission & Orientation Handbook that is posted online.
With her incarceration, Linda Mangano has joined the ranks of other public figures who have served time at the Connecticut penitentiary that is nicknamed “Club Fed.”
Former inmates include hotel magnate Leona Helmsley, Teresa Giudice from “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” reality TV show, Grammy Award-winning singer Lauryn Hill and Piper Kerman, author of “Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.”
Mangano will wear a uniform of government-issued green pants and green shirts and will have to limit jewelry to “a plain wedding band and an appropriate religious medallion and chain without stones.”
The stylish former politician’s wife will be allowed to have up to five pairs of shoes, including shower shoes, slippers and athletic shoes — the latter “with a maximum value of $100," according to the inmate handbook.
It also says she will have to store her personal property inside an assigned locker or foot locker and can keep one approved radio or MP3 player and a single wristwatch.
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