RHONJ star Dina Manzo’s ex-husband has been sentenced to seven years in prison for hiring a gangster to assault her boyfriend

Dina Manzo’s ex-husband Thomas Manzo has been sentenced to seven years in prison after he was found guilty of hiring a mobster to attack her then-boyfriend, now husband, David Cantin.

The ex-husband, 59, of the former Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 52, was sentenced on Tuesday, according to CBS News, following his conviction in June.

The judge also sentenced Thomas to three years of supervised release and ordered him immediately remanded in custody.

The case dates back to a 2020 indictment, when Manzo was accused of making a deal with a Lucchese crime family soldier to attack 44-year-old David in a North Jersey parking lot five years earlier in 2015.

“Whether you are in the mafia or not, hiring the mafia to attack someone because of your marital problems is abhorrent. Covering up the role you played only makes things worse,” U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a statement.

Dina Manzo’s 52-year-old ex-husband, Thomas Manzo, 59, has been sentenced to seven years in prison; Dina seen in 2014

He was found guilty of hiring a mobster to attack her then-boyfriend, now husband, David Cantin, 44; she is pictured with her ex-husband in a throwback image

“The jury’s verdict and today’s sentence make it clear that this office will spare no resources in holding accountable anyone who commits such crimes.”

The restaurateur originally faced a prison sentence of 46 years.

After the news of Thomas’ conviction, Dina shared a telling quote via Instagram Stories.

It read: ‘Because at the end of the day, the right people fight for you. The right people show up. The right people take care of it not only when life turns out great, but also when it’s hard and messy and it hurts all over.”

She also shared a quote on her Instagram following his conviction in June.

‘I call my power back to me. I call my energy back to me. I am calling my magic back to me,” she wrote in the statement. ‘I have been cleansed and disconnected from everything that can exhaust me. I am protected from any energy that does not serve me.

‘I’m safe. I am protected. I am whole. And that’s the way it is,” Manzo added.

Her post came after Thomas was convicted of contracting John Perna to assault David – whom Dina later married in 2017 – in exchange for a free, lavish wedding reception.

A federal jury found Thomas guilty of conspiracy, falsifying and concealing documents and committing a crime of violence in furtherance of racketeering activity.

The judge also sentenced Thomas to three years of supervised release and ordered him immediately remanded in custody

After the news of Thomas’ conviction, Dina shared a telling quote via Instagram Stories

The case dates back to a 2020 indictment, when Manzo was accused of making a deal with a mobster to attack David in a North Jersey parking lot in 2015; Dina in the picture with David

Prosecutors said Dina’s ex ordered the attack because he was angry. Dina had moved in with Dave after they broke up.

Gangster John Perna, 44 years old – a member of the Lucchese crime family – was found guilty of the 2015 attack in 2021 and sentenced to two and a half years

In exchange for carrying out the attack, prosecutors say Manzo allowed Perna to host a lavish wedding reception at his Brownstone Restaurant (pictured) in Paterson, New Jersey, for a fraction of the price.

Federal prosecutors said Thomas hired John to carry out the attack on David in July 2015 in the parking lot of a Garden State strip mall.

The following month, Perna’s wedding reception was held at The Brownstone restaurant, Paterson, New Jersey, which is partly owned by Thomas.

Perna pleaded guilty in December 2020 to committing a violent crime in furtherance of racketeering activities.

The following year, he received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence and was ordered by the court to pay back $17,816 in restitution costs. Perna was released last August.

During a police investigation into the attack on David, the jury found that Thomas had hidden information and lied on documents when subpoenaed by a grand jury, according to ABC News.

Thomas was enraged by his then-estranged wife Dina’s romance with David and wanted his attackers to “leave a permanent facial scar” in the planned attack, according to court documents reviewed by ABC.

Earlier this year, Thomas asked a federal judge overseeing the case to throw out the case, citing the unusually long history of delays, according to the New York Post.

His lawyers Marc Agnifilo and Zach Intrater said the restaurateur was denied his right to a “speedy trial” in the case, in which he was charged in 2020, five years after the attack.

They cited the federal Speedy Trial Act of 1974 in their argument to dismiss the case.

“The last day on which Mr. Manzo could be brought to trial on the charges under the (law) was December 10, 2022,” Thomas’ attorneys said in a Jan. 19 court filing. ‘But no effective continuation was signed. until almost eleven months later.’

The incident left Cantin, who married Dina in 2017, with a permanent facial scar

After his conviction in June, Dina shared a post on her Instagram Stories, writing: “I am safe. I am protected. I am whole

Dina (seen here in 2010) starred in seasons one, two and six of Real Housewives of New Jersey and also appeared as a guest in season four

Thomas’ attorneys said there is “no doubt that there is a violation” of the federal statute, and that his charges “must be dismissed.”

They describe their client as “a respected businessman who looks forward to the release of these charges so he can return to his family and the work he loves.”

Dina and Manzo separated in 2012 and divorced in 2016, with their marriage on the brink at the time of the assault.

Dina appeared on the first two seasons of The Real Housewives Of New Jersey in 2009-2010 before returning for season six in 2014.

She appeared alongside her siblings Caroline Manzo (seasons 1-5) and brother and sister-in-law Chris and Jacqueline Laurita (seasons 1-5). She is the godmother of Teresa Giudice’s youngest daughter, Audriana, 10.

She has a daughter from a previous relationship, Alexia Ioannou, 23, born in 1996.