Judge sent message about public corruption with Mangano resentence

Ex-Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano had hoped this week to see his 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges reduced significantly after an appeals court overturned two of his five convictions. If the judge had lowered his sentence to 5 years, as he requested, he could have been home for Christmas.

But on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, who briefly acknowledged Mangano's record of good behavior and mentoring of other inmates behind prison walls, imposed a sentence of 10 years, shaving off just two years.

A 5-year sentence, she said, wasn't enough to show the public that their leaders had to be held accountable for "brazen corruption." Azrack reminded Mangano, in vivid detail, of his unethical conduct as the top elected leader in Nassau County and said his sentence should serve as a stark deterrent to other would-be political crooks.

"When they see that you have received a substantial prison sentence, a prison sentence that appropriately punishes you for your crimes, a prison sentence that will hopefully deter other public officials and make them think twice before selling their office ... [It will be] a prison sentence that will hopefully convince them that in the end, corruption doesn't pay," the judge said.

Mangano, who was county executive from 2010 to 2017, used his clout to pressure the Town of Oyster Bay to indirectly back $20 million in loan guarantees for a contractor, a risky if not illegal financial move, the judge said. He took an envelope full of cash from a contractor and laundered it, and enjoyed the benefits of his wife's $454,000 no-show job, one of the many bribes he received, she said.

Mangano's attorney Morris J. Fodeman, who had pointed to Mangano's "extraordinary" conduct in prison, said in a statement Thursday that he and his client were "gratified" for the reduced sentence.

"While we hoped that would result in a significantly shorter sentence for this deeply flawed prosecution, we're gratified Ed will be home with his family two years sooner than originally feared," Fodeman said.

A spokesman for prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment Thursday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Mirabile, who was part of the team that originally prosecuted the case, pushed for Mangano to receive his original sentence.

"Simply, the defendant’s institutional conduct does not address the qualities that produced these offenses — greed, entitlement, abuse of public authority and a willingness to obstruct an investigation to avoid accountability," Mirabile said in court.

In interviews Thursday, some legal experts and political observers — even one on the other side of the aisle — expressed unease with the 10-year sentence for Mangano, now 64, of Bethpage, a two-term Republican county executive of one of New York State's most populous counties.

John Carman, a criminal defense attorney who represented Mangano's wife, Linda Mangano, at trial, said Thursday: "Our system of justice has a demonstrated tendency to crush people when corrective action would have sufficed. The Manganos are a sad example."

Nassau Democratic leader Jay Jacobs, who Mangano in 2014 called "a failed leader who likes to bully people," called the 10-year sentence "very harsh."

"Of course I condemn the corrupt acts that resulted in Ed’s conviction," Jacobs said. "However, I personally feel that 10 years is very harsh and perhaps too harsh. On a humanitarian basis, I would have hoped that sentence would have been less, not because the crimes don’t merit a punishment, but I think society’s needs have been well-served and no one benefits by Ed Mangano languishing for another six years in prison."

The Republican establishment in Nassau County, including Joseph G. Cairo Jr., the leader of the Nassau Republicans, and County Executive Bruce Blakeman, declined to comment on Mangano's resentence through their spokespeople.

It's unclear whether Nassau Republicans have made efforts to secure a pardon or sentence commutation for Mangano from President Donald Trump, who has pardoned other Republicans convicted of committing federal crimes, including controversial former Long Island Congressman George Santos and Long Island residents who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Lawrence Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University and a former political columnist and reporter at Newsday, said Mangano, who was arrested a decade ago and convicted in 2019, has seemed to disappear from the political radar.

"What’s sad about this in a personal sense is that unlike when other political figures have faced corruption charges, nobody in his world seems to be thinking about him, much less doing anything to help mitigate the sentence, like a pardon," said Levy.

Mangano himself called prison a "horrific punishment" just before the judge handed down his resentence and said he was a changed man.

"I am ready to return and be a much better person," he told the judge.

His lawyer said he'll appeal.

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.