Ed Mangano: Corruption Case, Appeal, and 2026 Resentencing

The Ed Mangano corruption case is the federal prosecution that ended the political career of the former Nassau County Executive, who was convicted in 2019 of taking bribes from a Long Island restaurateur and later sentenced to 12 years in prison. A federal appeals court threw out two of his bribery convictions in 2025 but left his honest services fraud and obstruction convictions in place. The Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in March 2026, and he is scheduled to be resentenced on October 9, 2026.

What Mangano Was Accused of Doing

Mangano took office as Nassau County Executive in January 2010. According to federal prosecutors, the corrupt arrangement at the center of the case began almost immediately and ran through early 2015. The other side of it was Harendra Singh, a restaurateur who operated concessions at Town of Oyster Bay facilities, including a beach and a golf course.¹

The government said Mangano used what the appeals court later described as his “tremendous political clout” to pressure the Town of Oyster Bay supervisor into indirectly guaranteeing four bank loans totaling roughly $20 million for Singh. The loans were meant to fund capital improvements at the town beach and golf course where Singh held concessions. Mangano organized the meetings and logged them on his official county calendar, even though he had no formal authority over Town of Oyster Bay operations.²

In return, Singh paid the Mangano family in kind. He provided five vacations, hardwood flooring for their home, a custom office chair, a massage chair, and a $7,300 wristwatch for one of the Manganos’ sons.³ The biggest benefit was a job. In April 2010, Singh hired Linda Mangano as purported Director of Marketing for his restaurant businesses. The position paid her more than $450,000 over roughly four years, and prosecutors proved it was a sham. Singh put it plainly on the stand: “I knew she will not be working.”⁴

When federal agents started asking questions, the Manganos and Singh worked together to fabricate evidence that Linda had actually done marketing work. On May 20 and May 22, 2015, Linda Mangano made false statements to FBI agents and federal prosecutors about her employment.¹

The Indictment

On October 20, 2016, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned a 13-count indictment against Edward Mangano, Linda Mangano, and John Venditto, the longtime Republican supervisor of the Town of Oyster Bay. The counts included bribery, wire fraud, extortion, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Linda Mangano faced additional charges tied to hiding her no-show job and lying to federal authorities. All three pleaded not guilty.⁵

Singh had already pleaded guilty in 2016 to conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, honest services wire fraud tied to the loan scheme, a nearly $1 million fraudulent FEMA claim connected to Superstorm Sandy, and obstructing the administration of IRS laws. He then cooperated with the government.⁶

Mistrial, Then Conviction

The first trial ran twelve weeks in early 2018 before U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack. Singh testified for twelve days. Mangano’s lawyer Kevin Keating told the jury that Singh “probably told 1,000 lies in 12 days of testimony.”⁴

On May 24, 2018, the jury acquitted Venditto on all federal charges.⁷ It deadlocked on the Manganos. After nine days of deliberations, the foreman submitted a note saying he could no longer carry out his duties, and Judge Azrack declared a mistrial on May 31, 2018.⁸ The foreman later said the jury had been leaning toward acquittal.⁹

The government retried the Manganos. On March 8, 2019, the second jury convicted Edward Mangano of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He was acquitted of charges tied to a separate scheme involving county contracts. Linda Mangano was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements to the FBI.¹

Sentencing and Disbarment

On April 14, 2022, Judge Azrack sentenced Edward Mangano to 12 years in federal prison. Appeals court records show the sentence also included a $20,000 fine, restitution of $10.6 million, a $200,000 fine, and more than $500,000 in forfeitures.² Linda Mangano was sentenced to 15 months.¹ She served about five months, moved to home confinement in January 2023, and was released from Bureau of Prisons custody in August 2023.¹⁰

The New York Appellate Division, Second Department, automatically disbarred Mangano effective the date of his March 2019 conviction. The court found that his federal felony convictions were “essentially similar” to the New York felony of scheme to defraud in the first degree, which triggers automatic disbarment under state law. Mangano did not oppose or respond to the disbarment proceedings.¹¹¹²

What the Appeals Court Changed in 2025

Both Manganos appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On February 13, 2025, a three-judge panel issued a split decision. It reversed Edward Mangano’s convictions for federal programs bribery and the related conspiracy, finding the evidence insufficient. The reason was narrow but decisive: the government had repeatedly conceded at trial that Mangano was not an “agent” of the Town of Oyster Bay, and the federal programs bribery statute requires that kind of formal relationship with the government entity involved. As Nassau County Executive pressuring an official of a separate municipality, he did not meet the statutory definition.¹³

The panel upheld his convictions for honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. It held that the fiduciary duty required for honest services fraud is broader than the agency requirement for federal programs bribery, that Mangano owed a duty to Nassau County citizens who lived within the Town of Oyster Bay, and that he violated it by secretly taking bribes to use his political influence over Town officials. The court affirmed all of Linda Mangano’s convictions, finding trial evidence made her claims about her marketing employment “demonstrably false.”²

Supreme Court Denial and October 2026 Resentencing

Mangano’s attorneys, led by Fred A. Rowley Jr., petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the surviving convictions. They argued that the Second Circuit’s “cross-jurisdictional” theory of honest services fraud was an impermissible expansion of the law, citing McDonnell v. United States and Percoco v. United States. The petition contended that Mangano could not have defrauded Nassau County citizens through actions directed at a separate government entity where he held no formal authority.¹⁴ The Supreme Court denied certiorari on March 9, 2026.¹⁵

With the bribery counts vacated and the Supreme Court out, the case was remanded to Judge Azrack for resentencing on the honest services fraud and obstruction convictions that remain. Mangano stays incarcerated and is seeking a reduced sentence. Prosecutors have said they will push for the same 12 years. Resentencing was initially set for July 22, 2026, and has been moved to October 9, 2026, with supplemental sentencing submissions due by September 25.¹⁶¹⁷

Others Caught Up in the Investigation

The federal probe reached beyond the Manganos. Venditto, acquitted federally, was later indicted by the Nassau County District Attorney and in July 2019 pleaded guilty to felony corrupt use of position or authority and misdemeanor official misconduct in a deal that spared him jail time. He died of cancer in March 2020 at 70.¹⁸

Frederick Mei, a former deputy town attorney in Oyster Bay, cooperated with the FBI and wore a wire. He admitted taking $50,000 in cash from Singh between 2011 and 2015, along with trips to Italy and South Korea and a $36,000 BMW lease, in exchange for helping Singh secure the town-guaranteed loans. Mei testified that his first bribe as a government official had come in 1995, describing what he called “the Oyster Bay way.” He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud in September 2015 and was sentenced to two years in prison.¹⁹²⁰

Singh, whose cooperation drove the investigation, was sentenced to four years in federal prison and ordered to report to custody in May 2026. He also admitted bribing former Oyster Bay deputy town attorney Frederick Ippolito, who pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion, and former Hempstead Town Councilman Edward Ambrosino, who was charged with tax evasion and wire fraud.⁶²¹

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano and His Wife Linda Mangano Sentenced
2
Courthouse News Service. Second Circuit Partly Reverses Long Island Official’s Corruption Conviction
3
Newsday. Edward Mangano Corruption Resentencing
4
CBS News New York. Harendra Singh Testifies in Ed Mangano Corruption Trial
5
ABC7 New York. Nassau County Executive, Wife, Town Supervisor Indicted in Bribery Probe
6
Newsday. Harendra Singh Sentencing
7
ABC7 New York. Partial Verdict Reached in Nassau County Corruption Case
8
ABC7 New York. Judge Declares Mistrial in Ed Mangano Corruption Case
9
CBS News New York. Mangano Jury Foreman Speaks
10
Newsday. Linda Mangano Nassau Corruption Prison Sentence
11
New York Courts. Matter of Mangano, Appellate Division Second Department
12
WSHU Public Radio. Ed Mangano, Convicted Ex-Nassau County Executive, Is Disbarred
13
FindLaw. United States v. Mangano, Second Circuit
14
Supreme Court of the United States. Mangano v. United States, Petition for Certiorari
15
Supreme Court of the United States. Docket for Mangano v. United States, No. 25-461
16
Newsday. Mangano Resentencing Date Set for Corruption Charges
17
News 12 Long Island. Ex-Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano To Be Resentenced for Corruption Case
18
Newsday. John Venditto Corruption Case
19
Newsday. Mangano Venditto Corruption Trial: Mei Testifies
20
FindLaw. Matter of Mei, New York Appellate Division
21
Newsday. Nassau GOP Chairman Recalls Telling Mangano He Was Being Dropped