‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ ex convicted of stalking couple for years
🔷 Ex-husband of RHONJ star pleads guilty in second case
🔷 Admits stalking couple over four-year span
🔷 Will serve state term at same time as federal prison
The ex-spouse of a Bravo reality star has admitted to stalking his former wife and her new love, over a four-year span.
Thomas F. Manzo, 59, entered his guilty plea in Monmouth County Superior Court on Oct. 23.
A week earlier, he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, for plotting a physical assault on one of the same victims, in exchange for a reception at a lavish New Jersey venue.
RELATED: ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ ex gets prison for violent crime
In 2015, Manzo arranged for a known mobster to attack the now-husband of Dina Manzo of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” fame.
Dina Manzo left the Bravo reality series that same year. She married Dave Cantin in 2017.
The latest plea deal was in connection with a violent Holmdel home invasion robbery in 2017, which also targeted the Cantins.
Read More: Real Housewife of NJ Dina Manzo 'shaken' after Holmdel attack
James "Jimmy Balls" Mainello, of Bayonne, was later arrested and charged in connection with the Holmdel assault.
Read More: Man with past mob ties charged with beating RHONJ star in robbery
Police were called to a townhouse on Banyan Boulevard, where the victims had freed themselves from zip-ties, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor 's Office.
The couple had been assaulted with a baseball bat and robbed of a new engagement ring and $500 cash. Officers were told that "an Italian guy with a North Jersey accent" told the pair, "This is what happens when you f*** with people from Paterson."
Manzo, a Franklin Lakes resident, has now confessed to stalking both victims and his awareness of the robbery and assault, carried out by Mainello and another unidentified male.
Manzo would face three years in state prison — to run at the same time as his current seven-year federal sentence.
He and Mainello both were set for sentencing in December, at which time Mainello would face up to seven years in prison.
Read More: ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ ex convicted
Dina Cantin’s daughter, Lexi, recently wrote an essay about the family’s emotional and often terrifying struggles, as a result of Manzo’s stalking and plotted attacks on her now stepfather.
“The fallout from my mother’s marriage to Tommy is a complex tapestry of emotions and betrayals. While strangers often offer empathy upon hearing our story, I find myself at a perpetual loss to understand how the man who tormented my mother garnered the support of my own family,” Lexi loannou said in the online piece, titled “Don’t Poke the Bear.”
"The psychological warfare started when Tommy realized that my mother had begun to move on," Lexi said of her ex-step father in the same essay.
She also said, “For the last decade I have felt trapped within the layers of my own story, existing in silence and hesitating to confront those I feared. My mother, her husband and I have persevered despite these hardships, turning our pain into purpose and our trauma into truth.”
Dina Cantin has been focused on their tight-knit trio as well, as seen in photos shared to Instagram.
The former reality star has said that she "eventually will speak on it, every bit of it."
Must-visit NJ spots for RHONJ fans
Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom
Here is where all “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” live
Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
