A 95-year-old former mobster once linked to an failed murder plot against John Gotti has been released early from prison.
Louis “Bobby” Manna, the former consigliere of the Genovese crime family, was granted compassionate release last month after spending more than 30 years in federal prison for racketeering and murder conspiracy.
First sentenced in 1989, Manna, 95, had served 36 years of an 80-year sentence. A federal judge approved his release citing severe health deterioration, including lung cancer, chronic kidney disease, Parkinson’s, and a series of infections. He will remain under 24-hour house arrest with GPS monitoring in Bayonne, N.J.
Once a top figure in the Genovese syndicate’s New Jersey faction, Manna orchestrated violent plots from Hoboken and Jersey City in the 1970s and ’80s. He was convicted of ordering the 1987 assassination of Irwin “The Fat Man” Schiff, an informant shot in a Manhattan restaurant, and conspiring to kill Gambino boss John Gotti and his brother Gene. Authorities also tied Manna to union corruption, loansharking, and gambling.
The case that brought him down relied heavily on FBI recordings from a Hoboken restaurant where he conducted business. Prosecutors said Manna was captured planning hits and settling scores on tape.
Judge Robert Kirsch, who approved the release, described Manna’s crimes as “depraved,” but noted his sentence had already demonstrated the consequences of racketeering convictions. Kirsch emphasized that Manna’s movement will be tightly restricted, and any violations would return him to custody.
Now under the care of his stepson, Manna will spend his final days confined to a private residence, supervised by federal probation officers.
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.