Eight years after pleading guilty, Singh has yet to serve time

                                                                     

 

 

Remember Harendra Singh?

The Oyster Bay restaurateur was the star witness against former Republican Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, his wife Linda and the late Republican Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto.

Singh, who was a Mangano family friend for more than 20 years, pleaded guilty in 2016 to eight felonies, admitting that he bribed Mangano, his wife and Oyster Bay officials in a scheme to convince the town to guarantee $20 million in private loans to Singh. 

Mangano was convicted of pressuring town officials to approve the loans and is serving 12 years in prison. His wife, who received a low-show job from Singh for four years,  served five months in prison followed by a short home confinement. Venditto was acquitted but died broken and nearly bankrupt after fighting Singh's allegations. 

Three courts have since found the loan guarantees, which were never approved by the Oyster Bay Town Board, to be illegal and unenforceable.

The Mangano's have always maintained their innocence.

Singh last October was finally sentenced to four years in prison for his admitted crimes, including the forging of Venditto's signature on the fake loan guarantee papers.

Federal District Court Judge Joan Azrack in October ordered that Singh report to federal prison on Jan. 24.  

"The defendant shall surrender to the institution
designated by the Bureau of Prisons: before 2 p.m. on 1/24/2024," Azrack directed.

He is still free, according to federal Bureau of Prison records.

Bureau of Prison online record as of today

Singh apparently got an extension for when he was supposed to start serving his sentence.

Court records show that Singh's attorney, Anthony LaPinta filed a motion Jan. 4 to "continue" Singh's surrender date, though the motion is sealed.

There is nothing in the file to indicate that Federal District Court Judge Joan Azrack, who presided over the Mangano trials, agreed. The evidence is that Singh is still not incarcerated.

Federal District Judge Joan Azrack had scolded Mangano officials for creating "a culture of corruption" during their tenure.

But she displayed a clear fondness for Singh, declaring that he was a "credible" witness.

After LaPinta told her that Singh's sons were a medical school student, a banker and an officer in the Marines, Asrack said, "“I am so impressed with his sons.  He should be so proud of them," Newsday reporated.

Azrack never mentioned Mangano's sons: Newsday reported before Mangano was sentenced that one son is a police officer, the other a deputy district attorney.

Mangano, meanwhile, still has eight years to go before he is out of prison.