Prosecutor: Two Men Get Prison Terms for 2017 Stalking, Home Invasion

Two men have been sentenced to prison terms in connection with a 2017 Holmdel home invasion and stalking, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Friday.

On Oct. 23, 2024, Thomas F. Manzo, 59, of Franklin Lakes, pleaded guilty and provided a full factual basis to two counts of fourth-degree stalking for his repeated conduct in stalking two victims over a four-year period between 2015 and 2019.

Previously, on May 12, 2023, James J. Mainello, 57, of Bayonne, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit first-degree armed robbery for his role in robbing and assaulting the same victims in their Holmdel home in May of 2017.

A condition to Mainello’s plea was that Manzo also plead guilty to his charges.

Both men were sentenced on Wednesday Jan. 8, before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley. Manzo was sentenced to the maximum eighteen months in state prison on each count, which will run concurrent to a seven-year federal sentence he is currently serving for charges related to a 2015 violent assault in aid of racketeering of one of the same stalking victims.

Mainello was sentenced to seven years in state prison, subject to the conditions of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA), which mandates that 85 percent of the sentence be served prior to the possibility of parole.

The case background …

The investigation into Manzo and Mainello’s conduct began when members of the Holmdel Police Department were called at 10:54 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, 2017, to a townhouse on Banyan Boulevard as a result of a 911 call reporting a home-invasion robbery.

Officers arrived on scene to discover two victims who had freed themselves from zip-ties after having been assaulted multiple times with a baseball bat and robbed of the couple’s new engagement ring and $500 in cash.

Initial investigation and DNA evidence led to the arrest and charges against Mainello in May of 2019. The ongoing investigation ultimately uncovered Manzo’s role in stalking both victims and his awareness of the robbery and assault carried out by Mainello and another unidentified male.

The case was handled by Monmouth County Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher J. Decker and Assistant Prosecutor Caitlin J. Sidley of the MCPO Major Crimes Bureau.

Manzo was represented by Christopher Adams, Esq., of Newark, and Mainello was represented by Marco Laracca, Esq., of Orange.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office