A Lifetime Of Service, In And Out Of The Courtroom

NORTH BELLMORE, NY — With the exception of a few years in the late 80's and early 90's, Peter Mancuso has dedicated his life to public service. A career prosecutor with the Nassau County District Attorney's Financial Crimes Bureau, Mancuso has led high-profile cases. But he has continued to give back outside of the courtroom.

Mancuso is a decades-long member of the East Meadow Kiwanis Club, which he joined in 1987 on the recommendation of a friend. Kiwanis's goal of giving back to the community was exactly what Mancuso was looking for. He fell in love with the organization, and has since gone on to serve in leadership positions in Nassau County Kiwanis divisions all the way up to Kiwanis International, where he is president-elect.

Mancuso, who lives in North Bellmore, moved to Nassau County with his family when he was 8 years old. He graduated from law school in 1978 and started looking for prosecutor positions after that.

"What I found in law school was that I was more interested in the subject matter in criminal law courses," Mancuso said. "There were a few other areas I thought were quite interesting. but this seemed like the one that held my attention and I wanted to become involved. And for me, it seemed like a natural fit to seek criminal prosecution."

The night before his interview at the Nassau DA's office, Mancuso's brother managed to score tickets to the Yankees World Series game. But knowing he had an interview in the morning, Mancuso didn't go. That night, he missed watching Reggie Jackson hit three home runs.

But it worked out in the end. Mancuso went to his interview the next morning and was offered a position at the Nassau DA's office. He started out his career as a prosecutor working traffic violations. After a few months of that, Mancuso worked his way up to county court, which handles felony cases.

In the late 70's, Mancuso got to try his first case for the county. "The case inolved a woman that was accused of stealing a couple of cans of tuna fish when she did her grocery shopping," said Mancuso. "The judge ended up dismissing the case. We didn't get very far with it."

What led Mancuso to his specialization was a chance encounter. A friend of Mancuso's, who was the deputy chief of the rackets bureau at the time, was working on a case about the Hempstead Town garbage incinerator. The case presented a lot of technical material, which needed to be pored over.

"He went to our office to ask if anyone would be comfortable with digesting technical material, and they said I went to MIT," Mancuso said. "And that was good enough for him."

That was Mancuso's first foray into technical financial fraud cases. Soon after, in 1981, the lawyer who had approached him for help got a promotion and invited Mancuso to join him in the Commercial Frauds Bureau.

In 1986, Mancuso left the DA's office and went into private practice. His friend, Steve Eisman, had been trying to get him to join the Kiwanis Club with him, but Mancuso never had the time. When he went into private practice, he found both the time and the inclination. Not only was the club a good place for him to network (something important for a lawyer setting off on his own), but it also gave him a chance to give back to the community now that he was no longer in public service.

"It fit like a glove for me," Mancuso said. "It was a good social experience. It was a good outlet for my desire to engage in meaningful service for other people."

Since then, Mancuso has been an active member of the East Meadow Kiwanis Club, which is the largest in the New York district. It has become something that he has devoted much of his time to.

After leaving for his private practice, Mancuso took on a job as a lawyer for a gasoline distributor in Suffolk County. He wasn't happy with the position, though, and left in 1994. He was considering all the work he'd have to do to restart his practice when the Nassau DA's office contacted him and offered him a position. He accepted it gladly, and has been at the DA's office since.

Mancuso has prosecuted some high-profile cases in his time, including the Roslyn School District case in which school officials embezzled millions from the district. The case was recently turned into the movie "Bad Education" by HBO.

The case was the most significant he prosecuted, Mancuso said, and was also unusual not just because of how much money was stolen (nearly $8 million), but how much was recovered — prosecutors managed to get about $6 million back.

"In my experience, people don't steal to save or invest, they steal to spend," said Mancuso. "Sometimes they need a public attorney."

The case resulted in changes to state law about how school districts track and spend their money. Unfortunately, despite his role in the case, Mancuso did not land a role in the movie.

Mancuso decided to retire now because of his upcoming tenure as Kiwanis International president. "I can't be a good ADA and Kiwanis president at the same time," he said.

Through his decades at the DA's office, Mancuso has seen leadership change multiple times and many people come and go. But through it all, the Nassau DA's office has always a place he's been happy to work.

"There has always been a positive, family, welcoming atmosphere," he said. "And that's tough. A lot of what we do here is tough. To keep that tone and tenor to what you're doing is pretty special. It's been a wonderful work experience for me here. It's been a great 34-plus years."