Mr. Mandrafina is a graduate of Fordham University and Rutgers School of Law-Newark.  Admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1981, he was employed as an associate attorney with the law firm of WEINER, OSTRAGER, FIELDMAN & MANTEL, conducting all aspects of civil litigation, including discovery, trials and settlement negotiations.

He entered on duty with the FBI as a Special Agent in April, 1983, and was initially assigned to the Newark Field Office, where he quickly distinguished himself by being recognized as the outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the year by the Central Jersey Security Association.  Mr. Mandrafina was then assigned to the New Haven Field Office, where he worked White Collar Crime and Domestic Terrorism matters, playing an integral role in the success of several major cases.  He was subsequently transferred to the New York Field Office, where he was assigned to investigate drug cartels as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.  His efforts resulted in the dismantlement of a major international drug trafficking organization, resulting in scores of arrests and successful prosecutions together with the seizure of over $10 million in assets.

Mr. Mandrafina elected to return to the Newark Field Office in 1993, where he was initially assigned to conduct Drug and Organized Crime investigations.  In January of 2002, he was named the Newark Undercover/Sensitive Operations Coordinator, based on his extensive experience utilizing the undercover technique.

Within a short period of time, Mr. Mandrafina established the Newark Undercover/Sensitive Operations Program as the flagship program in the country, with more ongoing operations than any other FBI Field Office.  His reengineering of the Newark Program was recognized by FBI Headquarters as a model to be replicated by other FBI Field Offices.  Based upon the outstanding success of the program under his direction, FBI Headquarters took the unprecedented step of upgrading the Newark Undercover Coordinator position to a supervisory level, the first Field Office in the country to be so recognized.  As a Supervisory Special Agent, Mr. Mandrafina oversaw the planning and execution of dozens of successful criminal, cyber, counterterrorism and counterintelligence operations, providing guidance to investigative teams on a variety of issues, including operational strategy, security, compliance, budget and legal matters.

FBI Headquarters relied on his expertise on a regular basis, tasking him to assist as an instructor at the Certification School for undercover agents and the Undercover Operation In-service for case agents and supervisors.  He was designated by FBIHQ as the United States representative to the International Working Group Undercover Operatives Conference, and has lectured on the planning and execution of Undercover Operations at several other international conferences, to the U.S. Intelligence community, and numerous police academies in New Jersey.  He developed and delivered an undercover certification training program at the request of the New Jersey State Police, which is now provided at their training academy for all prospective undercover troopers/detectives.  He has also lectured on the use of sophisticated investigative techniques at the International Law Enforcement Academy, Budapest, Hungary.  Mr. Mandrafina was also tasked by FBIHQ to counsel active undercover agents throughout the country, as well as to conduct on-site reviews of Undercover Operations in other Field Offices.  He has been instrumental in developing and supporting many of the sophisticated and complex undercover/sensitive operations undertaken by the FBI  during his tenure as Supervisor.