2-Year Sentence For 'Skinny Joey' Merlino, Reputed Longtime Philly Mob Boss

Chris Palmer at the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a piece on the two year prison sentence given to Joseph Merlino, the reputed boss of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra organized crime family.

You can read the piece via the below link:

www2.philly.com/philly/news/crime/joey-merlino-philadelphia-mob-boss-sentenced-federal-prison-gambling-20181017.html

Reputed Philadelphia Cosa Nostra Organized Crime Boss Joseph Merlino To Plea Deal In Federal Racketeering Case

The Sun-Sentinel in Boca Raton, Florida offers a piece on reputed Philadelphia Cosa Nostra organized crime boss Joseph Merlino’s plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino — the reputed Philadelphia mob boss who moved to Boca Raton — has inked a plea deal just weeks after his racketeering trial ended with a hung jury.

Merlino, 55, who relocated to South Florida years ago, has insisted he quit his life of crime. He spent time at a Boca restaurant that bore his family name: Merlino’s.

But things took a turn in 2016, when he was arrested on health care fraud charges. After the case ended in a mistrial in February, Merlino’s lawyers and prosecutors have reached a plea agreement, according to a court document filed late Wednesday.

The terms of the agreement aren’t yet available. Merlino’s change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for April 27.

Reputed Mafia boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino moved to Boca Raton when he was released from federal prison in 2011 after serving most of a 14-year sentence for racketeering, extortion and illegal gambling. Here are images of him when he went on trial in Manhattan Federal Court this January on health care fraud charges.

Prosecutors had alleged that instead of retiring, Merlino muscled his way into gambling and health insurance schemes run by crime families on the East Coast. The court case began when the feds arrested 46 men up and down the East Coast on charges they said read like “an old-school Mafia novel.”

The men were accused of being part of an organized crime network that involved the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Bonanno and Philadelphia major crime families. Their business included gambling, selling tax-free cigarettes and collecting illegal debts, the feds said.

On Feb. 20, after three days of deliberations in Merlino’s case, the jury wrote the judge a note stating, “We the juror(s) have continued deliberating and are at a continued impasse. … Unfortunately, we will be unable to come to a consensus on any of the four counts.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-pn-skinny-joey-plea-deal-20180330-story.html 

'Skinny Joey' Merlino, Reputed Philly Mob Boss Who Moved To Boca, Is Facing January Trial In New York

Paula McMahon at sun-sentinel.com offers a piece on the reputed Philadelphia Cosa Nostra crime family boss, Joseph Merlino (seen in the above photo), who is going to trial in New York on racketeering charges.

Reputed Mafia boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino has survived more than 25 attempts on his life and been cleared of the most serious charges — three murder raps — leveled against him over the years.

When the flamboyant Philadelphia native, who now lives in Boca Raton, goes on trial next month, he hopes to beat the feds as they try to put him back in prison for much of the rest of his life.

The current case began last year when the feds arrested 46 men up and down the East Coast on charges they said read like “an old-school Mafia novel.” The men were accused of being part of an organized crime network that involved the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Bonanno and Philadelphia major crime families. Their business included gambling, selling tax-free cigarettes and collecting illegal debts, the feds say.

Merlino, 55, and Eugene “Rooster” Onofrio, 75, of East Haven, Conn., are the only two who are going to trial. Merlino is free on a $5 million bond and his trial starts Jan. 16 in federal court in Manhattan.

He is considered a “mob star” by some because he courted media attention, regularly marched in the Philadelphia Mummers parade and made a holiday tradition of distributing turkeys to needy families.

Mob crackdown shows South Florida is still home for organized crime, feds say

It’s no surprise that Merlino is going to trial, said David Fritchey, a retired federal prosecutor and former chief of organized crime for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia, who helped send Merlino to prison in the past.

“That’s his personality. He’s gone to trial before and he’s dodged some legal bullets – he’s been hit but not as mortally as he could have been,” said Fritchey. “He’s the kind of guy who takes his chances.”

“But there’s a cost that comes with that kind of in-your-face criminality. It attracts the attention of law enforcement,” he said.

Fritchey said he anticipates one of the most interesting aspects of the upcoming trial will be seeing how a Manhattan jury reacts to Merlino. Though Merlino is something of a celebrity in Philadelphia and South Florida, he’s not so well known in New York City, the international capital of mob activity.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-reg-skinny-joey-merlino-trial-preview-20171227-story.html  

Feds Highlight Murder Talk In Merlino Tape

Veteran organized crime reporter and author George Anastasia offers a short piece at Bigtrial.net on the fed’s audio tape that features reputed Philadelphia Cosa Nostra mob boss Joseph Merlino and a New York wiseguy discussing murder.

It was just a couple of guys talking . . . about how to commit a murder.

And the feds got to listen in.

Snippets of a conversation recorded by a cooperating witness show Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and Eugene "Rooster" Onofrio casually discussing how to whack somebody.

"It's easy to kill somebody," said Merlino, according to a tape cited in a recent filing by federal prosecutors in a case against Merlino and Onofrio that is winding its way toward trial in New York.

You can read the rest of the piece and link to a video of George Anastasia discussing the tape with fellow crime reporter, Fox 29’s Dave Schratwieser, via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2017/08/feds-highlight-murder-talk-in-merlino.html 

Feds: Reputed Philly Mob Boss Bragged It's 'Easy To Kill Somebody' In Secret Recording

Kaja Whitehouse at the New York Post offers a piece on a recording the feds say captured reputed Philadelphia Cosa Nostra organized crime boss Joseph Merlino speaking of the ease of killing someone.

Killing someone is pretty easy, according to reputed Mafia boss Joey “Skinny Joey” Merlino — who offered his own personal play-by-play approach to a mob cohort in a secretly recorded conversation, the feds say.

In the 2014 recording, authorities captured the alleged Philadelphia mob boss gabbing with reputed Genovese acting captain Eugene “Rooster” Onofrio about how to best off someone, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

“It’s easy to kill somebody,” Merlino boasted, with Onofrio agreeing, “It’s simple,” according to the feds.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2017/07/18/reputed-mob-boss-bragged-its-easy-to-kill-somebody-in-secret-recording-feds/ 

Accused Mobster Joseph Merlino Wants Trial Moved To Philly

Kaja Whitehouse at the New York Post offers a piece on accused Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss Joseph Merlino, who will soon stand trial on racketeering charges.

Accused Philly mob boss Joey "Skinny Joey" Merlino wants to stay close to the cheesesteaks.

You can read the rest of the brief piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2017/06/19/accused-mobster-skinny-joey-wants-trial-moved-to-philly/

Accused Philly Mob Boss Will Fight Fed's Racketeering Charges

Kaja Whitehouse at the New York Post offers a piece on the reputed boss of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra organized crime family..

Reputed Philly mob boss Jo​seph “Skinny​ Joey​” Merlino is gearing up for battle in a massive racketeering case brought by Manhattan federal prosecutors, ​turning down a sweet deal from the feds and hiring a big-shot lawyer, The Post has learned.

Merlino, ​55, ​whose expensive suits and Rolls Royce are reminiscent of a bygone era, hired mob lawyer and Pace University law professor John Meringolo on Tuesday, court papers show.

Merlino hired Meringolo — who has represented ​former ​Gambino boss John “Junior” Gotti and acting capo Greg DePalma — because he plans to take his case to trial despite a ​plea offer that could have left him with less than two years​ prison time​, sources ​said.

Merlino, who also lives part-time in Boca Raton, Fla., has rolled the dice on trials before and won, including charges that he murdered an associate in 1996 for being disloyal.

If he losses this​ ​time, he face​s​ as much as 20 years ​behind bars.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2017/06/06/accused-philly-mob-boss-will-fight-feds-racketeering-charges/ 

Reputed Philadelphia Organized Crime Boss Turns Down Plea Offer In Big East Coast Mob Case

Veteran organized crime reporter and author George Anastasia (seen in the bottom photo) offers a piece at Bigtrial.net on Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino (seen in the above photo) and the Fed’s big East Coast mob case

Brad Sirkin has folded his cards.

The prolific, enterprising mob associate and sometime driver for Philadelphia Mafia boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino has agreed to cop a guilty plea in that sweeping but flawed racketeering conspiracy indictment in Manhattan Federal Court, and also to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in a more pointed and apparently airtight case against him and seven co-defendants in federal court in Tampa.

Merlino, on the other hand, is hanging tough and is prepared to go to trial in Manhattan where several other defendants also have opted to take deals. The insurance scam, the central charge in the Tampa case, is just a small piece of the broader New York indictment.

Sirkin, in a plea agreement filed in Florida, admitted his role in what authorities have alleged was a $157 million insurance fraud scheme that included kickbacks to doctors and pharmacist who knowingly wrote and filled bogus prescriptions for what authorities said were "compound medications, chiefly pain creams and scar creams, irrespective of medical necessity."

Sources said insurance companies were billed from $500 to $1,000 for a tube of the bogus cream with many prescriptions written with up to 10 refills. The mob was late arriving to the scam involving compound creams which have been described by insurance company investigators as the "snake oil of the 21st century" and which have, according to early investigations, generated tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent insurance reimbursements.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2017/05/merlino-turns-down-plea-offer.html 

Reputed Mobsters Could Walk Free After Feds Potentially Botch Case

Kaja Whitehouse at the New York Post offers a piece on the potential failure of a federal case against reputed organized crime figures from Florida, Philadelphia and New York.

They could soon be breaking out the Chianti on Arthur Avenue.

A group of reputed mobsters may be spared a trip up the river because the criminal case against them has run into big trouble — thanks to some bungling by the feds, The Post has learned.

Reputed Genovese capo Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello — who owns the Bronx sauce joint Pasquale’s Rigoletto Ristorante on Arthur Avenue — and notorious Philly mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey’’ Merlino are among 46 Mafiosi now hoping the charges may be dropped against them in their racketeering case.

The group, which includes members of four of the five major Mafia crime families, was rounded up in a massive bust in August.

But federal prosecutors last week alerted their defense lawyers that two FBI agents and a supervising agent in the case are being probed internally about their interactions with a key witness, sources told The Post.

The government is investigating a failure by the agents to memorialize debriefings with witness, John Rubio, a Genovese associate who wore a wire against his cronies, according to a sealed letter to the court last week.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2017/03/12/mobsters-could-walk-free-after-feds-potentially-botch-case/