RHONJ star Dina Manzo’s ex in hot water again over claims he hired mob goon to rough up her new beau

It’s official: Just when he thought he was out, the feds pulled him right back in.

The ex-husband of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Dina Manzo is facing a new set of federal racketeering charges — just a month after a judge dismissed the last case against him because prosecutors took too long to bring it to trial.

The new charges against Tommy Manzo — outlined in a three-count indictment filed last week in Newark federal court — are much the same as the old charges, which claim he hired a mafioso from the Lucchese crime family to rough up his famous ex’s new beau back in 2015.

Tommy Manzo will be arraigned in Newark on Tuesday afternoon on one count each of violent crime in aid of racketeering activity, conspiracy to commit an assault with a dangerous weapon and falsifying and concealing records related to a federal investigation.

His attorney, Zach Intrater, declined to comment Monday.

The new indictment is the latest chapter in a years-long drama that began when the feds first indicted the troubled 58-year-old restaurateur in 2020 for allegedly cutting a deal with mob capo John Perna to beat down David Cantin, Dina Manzo’s then-boyfriend.

In return, Tommy Manzo offered a deeply discounted wedding at his catering hall, The Brownstone in Paterson, New Jersey, according to the allegations.

“Manzo was outraged that his former wife became romantically involved with another man,” prosecutors said in court documents. “Rather than accept that, as law-abiding individuals do, Manzo wanted to extract physical revenge. Unwilling or incapable of doing so directly, he leveraged his catering hall.”

Perna and a guy from his crew caught up with Cantin in July 2015 and worked him over with a slapjack in the parking lot of a North Jersey strip mall. The savage attack left Cantin battered and scarred, court documents said.

Perna — who lives in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, and is the son of former mob capo Ralph Perna — pleaded guilty to committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity and was sentenced to nearly three years in prison.

He was released last August, according to jail records.

Meanwhile, Manzo remained free on bail as the case against him moved along at a glacial pace.

Late last month, federal Judge Susan Wigenton finally dismissed the charges, agreeing with both Manzo’s attorneys and federal prosecutors that the feds had violated Manzo’s rights under the Speedy Trial Act.

But she did so without prejudice — which allowed prosecutors to quickly re-indict the allegedly mob-connected Manzo, who lives in the ritzy New Jersey suburb of Franklin Lakes.

“The charged offenses are unquestionably serious,” Wigenton wrote in her dismissal, adding that the breadth of the alleged crimes and the substantial prison sentence Manzo faces weighed in prosecutors’ favor.

It’s not the only case that threatens to put Manzo — who hails from one of North Jersey’s most infamous families — behind bars.

He still has pending state charges in Monmouth County that allege he and another man broke into Dave and Dina’s home in Holmdel, New Jersey, and beat them with bats before robbing them in May 2017.

The next hearing in that case is scheduled for April 29, state prosecutors told The Post.

Manzo had married Dina in an over-the-top 2005 wedding chronicled on the VH1 reality series “My Big Fabulous Wedding.”

But the couple split in 2012 over his alleged infidelity, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Kim DePaola told The Post in 2020 — though the couple didn’t officially divorce until 2016.

This article was originally posted here