Ex-Nassau County executive resentencing: Edward Mangano deserves 12-year sentence for 'corrosive behavior,' feds say, but defense says he should get less

Ex-Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is a "model inmate" and a "changed man" and should be resentenced to a considerably shorter term of 5 years in prison later this month after an appeals court threw out part of his corruption conviction, his attorneys said Wednesday in new court documents as prosecutors asked for Mangano's 12-year sentence to be reimposed.

"Mr. Mangano juggles three jobs in prison and still finds time to be a mentor and positive influence for other inmates," Mangano's attorney Morris J. Fodeman wrote in a sentencing memo. "These years have been incredibly difficult for Mr. Mangano and his family. Mr. Mangano has missed his son’s wedding, the birth of his grandchild, and his brother’s funeral. Despite these significant challenges, as set forth below and in the appended support letters, Mr. Mangano is a changed man."

Mangano, 64, is currently serving a 12-year sentence at FMC Devens in Massachusetts for using his status as county executive to pressure the Town of Oyster Bay to indirectly back loans for a town concessionaire who was Mangano's friend.

But he is scheduled to be resentenced on July 22 after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned two bribery charges he was convicted of, ruling that Mangano, as county executive, was not an "agent" of Oyster Bay Town, an element required for a conviction on those charges. The court upheld Mangano's conviction on the remaining charges.

"This Court has the rare opportunity to see, firsthand, how Mr. Mangano has used his time since the original sentencing — a time marked not by bitterness or despair, but by responsibility, growth, and service," Fodeman wrote. "We respectfully request a sentence of 60 months’ imprisonment."

Federal prosecutors, however, rejected the notion that a sentence short of the original 12 years would be an appropriate punishment, given the court's upholding of the other charges and Mangano's convicted conduct, as well as the need for deterrence.

"The government continues to maintain that Mangano’s corrupt and fraudulent conduct was extensive, harmful and corrosive," Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Mirabile wrote in a sentencing memo Wednesday. "His scheme inflicted significant financial risk and reputational damage on Nassau County, and particularly, the TOB, while further eroding public confidence in local government."

Mirabile said the court should reimpose the original 12-year prison sentence, as well as 3 years of supervised release, a $20,000 fine, forfeiture of $526,606.95 and one black and silver Panerai Luminor 44-mm watch — which prosecutors said at trial was one of the many bribes that Mangano and his family received as part of the scheme — and $10,630,016.80 in restitution.

Mangano is slated to appear via Zoom for the July 22 resentencing before U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack. Probation officials also recommended that the court reimpose the original 12-year-sentence, prosecutors said.

But Mangano's attorney wrote that while incarcerated, Mangano earned culinary training certification and serves as the prison camp’s lead chef at FMC Devens. He also tutors fellow inmates in their culinary coursework. Mangano also has trained four service dogs in the Canine Companions program.

The Bureau of Prisons has designated Mangano as the prison's town driver, transporting inmates to their jobs and driving released inmates to Boston airports and bus and train stations, his lawyer wrote. "This position requires the highest level of BOP clearance as it allows Mr. Mangano to travel in the community unsupervised,” he wrote. “He is one of only several inmates in the entire facility entrusted with this role."

Mangano’s immediately family — his wife, Linda, and two adult sons, Sal and Alex — as well as his parents, Rachel Mangano, 88, and John Mangano, 90, each wrote to the judge asking her to consider Mangano’s good behavior in prison when she resentences him.

Linda Mangano, in a letter to the judge, referenced her own incarceration on corruption charges and said she’s dealing with financial difficulties. Fodeman said simply that the Manganos are “broke.”

"I work as much as I can to keep my house going but legal bills continue to mount, and it is difficult to make ends meet with just one salary and a far smaller pension because Ed had to retire far earlier,” Linda Mangano wrote. "I speak to him on a regular basis, and he is worn out, emotionally strained and at times hopeless.”

Oheka Castle owner and noted Long Island political power broker Gary Melius, in a letter to the judge, said Mangano, who worked for him before beginning his prison stint, has a job waiting for him at the castle.

”I would be honored to have him return to work with me, as I know he will contribute meaningfully and responsibly,” Melius wrote.

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.