The ex-husband of former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dina Cantin , previously Dina Manzo, was convicted of hiring a mobster to assault her then-boyfriend in 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey said in a statement Tuesday.
Thomas Manzo’s case — described by a federal agent as almost like a “bad TV crime drama” — concluded this week when a unanimous jury found him guilty of planning the attack against Dave Cantin, who Dina married in 2017. In exchange for the assault, prosecutors said Manzo offered the mafia member a free wedding reception at his restaurant — which Manzo then tried to hide. Manzo was found guilty in Newark federal court on one count of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity, one count of conspiracy to commit a violent crime in aid of racketeering resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of falsifying and concealing documents related to a federal investigation.
He had previously pled not guilty to the charges. “He will now face just punishment for his crimes,” U.S.
Atty. Philip R. Sellinger said.
During the almost three-week trial, federal prosecutors argued that Manzo hired John Perna of the Lucchese crime family to attack Cantin. Perna, a fully initiated member of the mafia, otherwise known as a “made man,” and a crew member assaulted Cantin on July 18, 2015. The attack, prosecutors said, left Cantin with “significant injuries.
” The next month, Perna held a “lavish.
