Judge bars decisions on de Blasio probe from corruption case

A federal judge Wednesday barred any mention of law enforcement decisions not to prosecute New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during the upcoming corruption trial of former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and former Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto.

Federal and state prosecutors scrutinized de Blasio’s dealings with Harendra Singh, the restaurateur at the center of the bribery case against Mangano and Venditto, and last year declined to bring charges against the mayor — who has maintained he acted legally.

U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack said from the bench in a Central Islip courtroom Wednesday that she found the decision not to prosecute de Blasio “irrelevant” to the corruption trial.

She cautioned defense attorneys they’d run the risk of a mistrial and financial sanctions if the topic came up in front of jurors, but she said they could explore at trial “everything” Singh said about interactions with de Blasio and his administration.

Venditto, Mangano and Mangano’s wife, Linda, all have pleaded not guilty in an alleged bribery scheme in which the former elected officials are accused of illegally helping Singh get $20 million in indirect loan guarantees and government contracts in exchange for kickbacks and a $450,000 no-show job for Linda Mangano.

Hundreds of potential jurors came to the courthouse Wednesday to fill out questionnaires, the first step toward selection of a jury for a trial set to start March 12.

The judge also ruled Wednesday that both prosecutors and defense attorneys will get access to an interview former Oyster Bay deputy attorney Frederick Mei gave town officials.

The town had asserted attorney-client privilege, among other arguments, and opposed handing over that information and unredacted copies of other documents.

But Azrack said the defendants’ rights to confront an accuser trumped the privilege claim regarding Mei’s interview statements and that both sides also would get access to other town records — with some exceptions — that she had reviewed privately.

Mei is a key figure in the case, having worn an FBI wire as a government cooperator and taping at least one conversation with Singh that included talk about town officials confronting Mei about potential misconduct, court papers say.

Mei secretly pleaded guilty in September 2015 to honest services fraud in a scheme in which he received $50,000 in checks made out to cash and payments on a BMW lease to help an unnamed concessionaire — understood to be Singh — get millions in indirect loan guarantees.

Singh secretly pleaded guilty in October 2016 to bribing Edward Mangano and John Venditto and trying to bribe de Blasio.

Both pleas became public in January as prosecutors turned over records to the defense ahead of the trial.

Venditto claims he knew nothing of a scheme between Mei and Singh in connection with loans and indirect guarantees.

His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, applauded the judge’s decision to turn over Mei’s interview summary.

“We’ve been trying to get the Mei statement we believe exculpates Venditto for a year and a half, and the judge is giving it to us and we’re grateful,” he said after court.

Venditto is accused of conspiracy, bribery, securities fraud, wire fraud, making false statements and obstruction of justice.

Edward Mangano is accused of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and extortion.

“We remain confident in our position and look forward to the trial,” Mangano’s attorney, Kevin Keating, said after court.

Linda Mangano has been charged with making false statements, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Her attorney, John Carman, said after court that his client “is relieved that the process for proving her innocence has begun.”

Prosecutors declined to comment after court, as did an attorney for the Town of Oyster Bay.