Former mob associate gets 5 years

A one-time mob associate was sentenced to 5 years in prison in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday for lying about his role in efforts to kill two men in North Massapequa during the Colombo family factional wars in 1992.

Anthony Colandra, 43, of Manhattan, was originally charged with lying about his involvement in the murders of John Minerva and Michael Imbergamo, but was allowed to plead guilty to lying about his involvement in an earlier, unsuccessful attempt to kill Minerva.

The 5-year sentence was agreed to as part of Colandra's guilty plea in February. Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan that Colandra, who works for the Catholic archdiocese and has four children, has completely severed his ties with the mob since 1992.

Federal prosecutors have previously said they developed evidence on Colandra after the statute of limitations for charging him with federal murder in aid of racketeering.