The Ex- Husband Of Dina Manzo From “Real Housewives Of New Jersey” Pleaded Not Guilty To Hiring A Hit On Her New Man
That is a picture of Dina Manzo and her third husband, Dave Cantin, who she married in 2017. What a sweet couple, right? Well, there’s a dramatic backstory and it’s very-Real Housewives Of New Jersey/Mob Wives because it involves a mob family and a hit! But don’t worry, this was no horse head in the bed situation. This is more like a Dollar Tree mafia situation. Her ex-husband, Tommy Manzo, allegedly got Dave roughed up in a strip mall parking lot in July 2015.
Dina Manzo was a regular on three seasons, including the first two, of RHONJ. She married her second husband, Tommy Manzo, in 2005 and they split in 2012, finalizing their divorce in 2016. (And that split came complete with gay rumors.) Dina first got with Dave in 2015. And that leads us to this latest mob messiness…
Page Six says Tommy, who is out on $100,000 bail, pleaded not guilty in federal court through a Zoom call. He’s been charged with committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering, assault with a dangerous weapon, and falsifying records. Each charge carries a 20-year maximum sentence and $250,000 fine. Tommy is accused of hiring John Perna–a soldier of the Lucchese crime family–to attack Dave in a strip mall parking lot. John allegedly beat Dave with a slapjack. John was charged with the same crimes, as well as insurance fraud for allegedly setting his Mercedes on fire in 2016 with some other Lucchese mobsters.
As payment for the attack, Tommy allegedly gave a huge discount at The Brownstone, a catering hall which he co-owns. Prosecutors say that tons of Lucchese mobsters attended the “lavish wedding reception at Manzo’s restaurant for a fraction of the price.” Paying hitmen in steep discounts? Is there no elegance left in the New Jersey crime-family circuit?
Page Six adds that Tommy allegedly faked and hid records of the wedding even after subpoenas were sent to him. Last November, the FBI searched The Brownstone he owns and found invoices from the Perna wedding and other documents not previously turned over. But listen, Tommy’s lawyer, Michael Critchley, swears that his client is:
“Absolutely innocent, and the allegations more resemble a fictionalized plot of a reality TV show and will be proven to be nothing more than that.”
In probably related news, Dina and Dave were both violently attacked by two men in their home during a “robbery” in 2017. A suspect, James Mainello, was arrested and charged last year and faces up to 20 years in prison.
This is so fucked up, but you won’t catch the women on RHONJ hiring hitmen to rough up their enemies. They just do it themselves.
Pic: Instagram