CENTRAL ISLIP, NY (TIP): U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack on Thursday, April 14,  sentenced former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano to 12 years in prison in a bribery case that stretched several years and turned a once-popular Republican leader into a disbarred attorney and felon.

The Judge told the defendant: “Your crimes were motivated by greed….You have shown no remorse for your actions in the slightest.”  “You were the Nassau County Executive and had tremendous political clout,” she said. “You were the Nassau County Executive and you led by your corrupt example.”

Citing recent threats to democracy, she said “democracy is a precious thing and crimes such as yours strike at the heart.” Mangano, 61, gave a lengthy defense of his actions and pleaded for leniency for his wife, Linda. He told the judge: “My life has been destroyed,” adding that he was mentally “a wreck” and in “massive debt.”

He called it a “sad and very difficult day, horrific decade.”

“I truly wish I had hindsight vision,” he said. “I was so focused on running the county and dealing with NIFA…”

“We’re not takers,” he said, “I would not allow my office to be infiltrated by that.”

Mangano said, “I feel like I’m just taking the fall for these guys’ years of criminal acts.” The judge later in the day sentenced Mangano’s  wife, Linda Mangano to 15 months in prison for her conviction in the same bribery and obstruction of justice case involving a former restaurateur who was a long-time family friend.