Trump nominee Joseph Nocella Jr. could add top LI federal prosecutor to long list of government service
Joseph Nocella Jr. is pictured here in April in a portrait at the Republican Party's Nassau County headquarters in Westbury. Credit: James Escher
In the early 1990s, Joseph Nocella Jr. was a young assistant U.S. attorney in New York's Eastern District prosecuting cases in Central Islip against the head of the Lucchese crime family, a married couple who defrauded a half dozen banks of $38 million and a woman accused of threatening the life of feminist leader Betty Friedan.
More than 30 years later, Nocella, a newly elected Nassau County Family Court judge, is poised to return to the Eastern District — this time as the office's top prosecutor.
On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump named Nocella as his selection for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District. Nocella "has a strong record of bringing Law and Order to the incredible people of New York," Trump said in a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social.
If the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate confirms him, Nocella, 60, of Seaford, would succeed Breon Peace, who announced last month he was resigning effective Jan. 10. The district covers Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
Former Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli has known Nocella, who didn't respond to requests for comment, for 15 years and considers him a "younger and far more serious brother."
Ciampoli, a longtime elections attorney for Republican candidates statewide, said while Nocella has secured positions in multiple GOP administrations on both the county and town levels, he's also developed a reputation as someone unafraid to tell his bosses "no" when their ideas veer outside of legal boundaries.
"And that's a reflection of his ethics," Ciampoli said. "His approach to government is that there's a right way to do things, and you've got to do it right. I've been in the room where he has told elected and appointed officials that this is not the right way to do things, and told them what the right way to do things was. … And that's what a lawyer is supposed to do."
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican, has known Nocella since they were 18-year-old students at Fordham University.
"The greatest thing about Joe is that he is a very fair, very intelligent man, and he knows Long Island," said Donnelly, who added that she hopes to work with Nocella on reforming state discovery laws. "… He would look at any situation and look at both sides of it and come up with a fair disposition."
As U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, Nocella's salary would be almost $192,000 annually while supervising roughly 160 prosecutors and 180 other staffers.
He'd also be tasked with overseeing a number of high profile criminal cases. They would include the prosecutions of: ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, who is facing interstate prostitution and sex trafficking charges; a Long Island child therapist accused of exchanging sexually explicit videos of infants; and a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Kathy Hochul charged with being a foreign agent for China.
Nocella also would be at the helm of the office for the April sentencing of disgraced former Long Island congressman George Santos, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.
Santos' attorney, Joseph Murray, said Friday while he doesn't know Nocella personally, he couldn't ignore what he said was "the obvious appearance of his nomination coming right out of the Nassau GOP."
He added: "If I were advising the president-elect, I would strongly advise against appointing any prosecutors with ties to county political organizations," saying Americans "are thirsting for our president-elect to finally remove the politics from our criminal justice system."
Nocella grew up in Elmont, the oldest of three sons of late couple Eileen and Joseph Nocella Sr., the latter of whom had worked as the Town of Hempstead's building commissioner. Nocella Jr. told Newsday when his father died in 2010 that the elder Nocella had helped to popularize the high-ranch style of homes in southern Nassau County.
Nocella Jr. graduated from Fordham and then Columbia Law School, clerked for U.S. District Judge Lawrence McKenna of New York's Southern District, worked in litigation at well-established law firms in New York and Los Angeles and served in the Eastern District's criminal division from 1991 through 1995, according to a Newsday voter's guide profile for the 2024 election.
Nocella has spent most of the past 20 years working for Republican administrations on Long Island, serving first in 2006 as counsel to the GOP-controlled Nassau Legislature. He later became counsel to former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano before serving as managing attorney in the county attorney's office and as counsel to Nassau's former Office of Housing and Community Development.
In 2017, Nocella accepted an appointment as town attorney in GOP-controlled Oyster Bay. That followed the October 2016 arrests of Mangano, his wife, Linda Mangano, and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, who were named in a 13-count federal indictment alleging extortion, bribery, fraud and obstruction charges.
Nocella wasn't implicated in the scheme, which sent both Manganos, along with former Deputy Town Attorney Frederick Mei and restaurateur Harendra Singh, to prison.
A federal jury acquitted Venditto of all charges but he later pleaded guilty to separate corruption charges in state court in a plea deal that stripped him of his law license but didn't include any jail time.
In 2020, Republican Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin appointed Nocella as his chief of staff and later as town attorney. Three Nocella relatives — a cousin and two nephews — are currently on the town's payroll, according to Hempstead Town spokesman Brian Devine.
Clavin and Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joe Saladino declined to comment about Nocella's recent nomination.
In 2022, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, appointed Nocella to serve as a district court judge before voters elected him to the same role with a term that started in 2023.
In November, voters elected Nocella as a Nassau Family Court judge. He is expected to be sworn in next week, court officials said.
Since 1999, Nocella has contributed nearly $60,000 to Republican candidates, clubs and committees, according to New York State Board of Election records.
Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a Republican, said he believes Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Cairo helped sway the incoming Trump administration to select Nocella for the U.S. attorney nomination. But he said Nocella is more than qualified for the post and could end up in even higher-ranking judicial jobs down the road.
"This is a great position for him," D'Amato said. "He will distinguish himself. He is a lawyer's lawyer. He is cut out for this, and I believe this is just the beginning of a great legal career that could take him to the pinnacle, if he continues … He could become a great federal judge and maybe go to the highest court."
In a statement, Cairo said Nocella is "dedicated to the rule of law and the pursuit of justice" and "eminently qualified for the position."
In the early 1990s, Joseph Nocella Jr. was a young assistant U.S. attorney in New York's Eastern District prosecuting cases in Central Islip against the head of the Lucchese crime family, a married couple who defrauded a half dozen banks of $38 million and a woman accused of threatening the life of feminist leader Betty Friedan.
More than 30 years later, Nocella, a newly elected Nassau County Family Court judge, is poised to return to the Eastern District — this time as the office's top prosecutor.
On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump named Nocella as his selection for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District. Nocella "has a strong record of bringing Law and Order to the incredible people of New York," Trump said in a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social.
If the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate confirms him, Nocella, 60, of Seaford, would succeed Breon Peace, who announced last month he was resigning effective Jan. 10. The district covers Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- President-elect Donald Trump on Monday nominated newly elected Nassau County Family Court Judge Joseph Nocella Jr., 60, of Seaford, to serve as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District.
- Early in his career, Nocella was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District before later working in Nassau County government as well as for the Town of Hempstead and Town of Oyster Bay.
- Friends and former colleagues described Nocella as a highly ethical lawyer and jurist with a reputation for pushing back against elected officials or political appointees when their ideas veer outside the law.
Unafraid to say 'no'
Former Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli has known Nocella, who didn't respond to requests for comment, for 15 years and considers him a "younger and far more serious brother."
Ciampoli, a longtime elections attorney for Republican candidates statewide, said while Nocella has secured positions in multiple GOP administrations on both the county and town levels, he's also developed a reputation as someone unafraid to tell his bosses "no" when their ideas veer outside of legal boundaries.
"And that's a reflection of his ethics," Ciampoli said. "His approach to government is that there's a right way to do things, and you've got to do it right. I've been in the room where he has told elected and appointed officials that this is not the right way to do things, and told them what the right way to do things was. … And that's what a lawyer is supposed to do."
Joseph Nocella Jr. addresses board members during a Town of Oyster Bay meeting in 2018 while serving as town attorney. Credit: Danielle Silverman
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican, has known Nocella since they were 18-year-old students at Fordham University.
"The greatest thing about Joe is that he is a very fair, very intelligent man, and he knows Long Island," said Donnelly, who added that she hopes to work with Nocella on reforming state discovery laws. "… He would look at any situation and look at both sides of it and come up with a fair disposition."
As U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, Nocella's salary would be almost $192,000 annually while supervising roughly 160 prosecutors and 180 other staffers.
He'd also be tasked with overseeing a number of high profile criminal cases. They would include the prosecutions of: ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, who is facing interstate prostitution and sex trafficking charges; a Long Island child therapist accused of exchanging sexually explicit videos of infants; and a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Kathy Hochul charged with being a foreign agent for China.
Nocella also would be at the helm of the office for the April sentencing of disgraced former Long Island congressman George Santos, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.
Santos' attorney, Joseph Murray, said Friday while he doesn't know Nocella personally, he couldn't ignore what he said was "the obvious appearance of his nomination coming right out of the Nassau GOP."
He added: "If I were advising the president-elect, I would strongly advise against appointing any prosecutors with ties to county political organizations," saying Americans "are thirsting for our president-elect to finally remove the politics from our criminal justice system."
LI native, government veteran
Nocella grew up in Elmont, the oldest of three sons of late couple Eileen and Joseph Nocella Sr., the latter of whom had worked as the Town of Hempstead's building commissioner. Nocella Jr. told Newsday when his father died in 2010 that the elder Nocella had helped to popularize the high-ranch style of homes in southern Nassau County.
Nocella Jr. graduated from Fordham and then Columbia Law School, clerked for U.S. District Judge Lawrence McKenna of New York's Southern District, worked in litigation at well-established law firms in New York and Los Angeles and served in the Eastern District's criminal division from 1991 through 1995, according to a Newsday voter's guide profile for the 2024 election.
Nocella has spent most of the past 20 years working for Republican administrations on Long Island, serving first in 2006 as counsel to the GOP-controlled Nassau Legislature. He later became counsel to former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano before serving as managing attorney in the county attorney's office and as counsel to Nassau's former Office of Housing and Community Development.
In 2017, Nocella accepted an appointment as town attorney in GOP-controlled Oyster Bay. That followed the October 2016 arrests of Mangano, his wife, Linda Mangano, and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, who were named in a 13-count federal indictment alleging extortion, bribery, fraud and obstruction charges.
Nocella wasn't implicated in the scheme, which sent both Manganos, along with former Deputy Town Attorney Frederick Mei and restaurateur Harendra Singh, to prison.
A federal jury acquitted Venditto of all charges but he later pleaded guilty to separate corruption charges in state court in a plea deal that stripped him of his law license but didn't include any jail time.
In 2020, Republican Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin appointed Nocella as his chief of staff and later as town attorney. Three Nocella relatives — a cousin and two nephews — are currently on the town's payroll, according to Hempstead Town spokesman Brian Devine.
Clavin and Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joe Saladino declined to comment about Nocella's recent nomination.
Judge since 2022
In 2022, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, appointed Nocella to serve as a district court judge before voters elected him to the same role with a term that started in 2023.
In November, voters elected Nocella as a Nassau Family Court judge. He is expected to be sworn in next week, court officials said.
Since 1999, Nocella has contributed nearly $60,000 to Republican candidates, clubs and committees, according to New York State Board of Election records.
Former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, a Republican, said he believes Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Cairo helped sway the incoming Trump administration to select Nocella for the U.S. attorney nomination. But he said Nocella is more than qualified for the post and could end up in even higher-ranking judicial jobs down the road.
"This is a great position for him," D'Amato said. "He will distinguish himself. He is a lawyer's lawyer. He is cut out for this, and I believe this is just the beginning of a great legal career that could take him to the pinnacle, if he continues … He could become a great federal judge and maybe go to the highest court."
In a statement, Cairo said Nocella is "dedicated to the rule of law and the pursuit of justice" and "eminently qualified for the position."
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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