Black Mafia Bigwig Visits Merlino
February 10, 1999|by Kitty Caparella, Daily News Staff Writer

A Junior Black Mafia associate and his pals showed up - uninvited - at the $240,000 South Philadelphia home of reputed acting mob boss Joseph ``Skinny Joey'' Merlino last Thursday.

The encounter ended minutes later when uniformed police responded to a report of a disturbance at the house. Police were told there was no disturbance.

However, law enforcement sources saw one-time JBM associate Trent Corwin Pickard, 31, of 57th Street near Haddington, and at least one or two others go to the Merlino home on Sydenham Street near Hulseman in the exclusive Brittany Estates, where the Merlinos moved last fall.

Pickard is the younger brother of a major JBM drug dealer, the late Julius ``J.C.'' Pickard, killed in a 1995 shootout.

Members of the Black Mafia of the 1970s and the JBM of the late 1980s, conspired with ``made members'' of the Mafia in major drug deals - prior to Merlino becoming the reputed head of La Cosa Nostra.

A block from the Merlino home, police made a car stop and questioned Pickard, who has three arrests, including drug possession in 1991, but no convictions, before letting him and a passenger go.

Pickard was said by law enforcement sources and neighbors to be following in his late brother's footsteps.

J.C. seemed to live a charmed life, being acquitted of two murders: the 1987 killing of Franklin Major and the 1984 killing of Robert Pendleton. Witnesses recanted their testimony in both cases, after being threatened. Pickard denied the allegations.

The elder Pickard was caught red-handed with four other JBMers cutting and bagging cocaine on Dec. 1, 1988, in a city bust later transferred to federal court.

The later 1980s were the heyday of the JBM, a notorious violent citywide drug organization - linked to at least 25 murders - that distributed cocaine to the African American community.

J.C.'s cocky and arrogant attitude only worsened serving six years for his second federal drug conviction, according to drug investigators. He thought he could reconstruct the JBM and enlisted pals on the street before getting out.

After his release from Leavenworth on Mar. 27, 1995, he wasted no time recruiting younger relatives of jailed JBMers, including his brother, Trent, law enforcement sources said.

Several drug-related murders and many more shootings, including a Nov. 27, 1995, shootout that encircled a busload of handicapped children in West Philadelphia, were linked to J.C. Pickard.

On Dec. 6, 1995, Pickard was fatally shot by another drug dealer after trying to woo away the dealer's woman inside a Mount Airy nightclub.

Both Trent and Julius are the sons of Police Cpl. Corrine Robinson, of the 16th District.

Both Corrine and her brother, the late Lt. Benjamin Pickard, were investigated by Internal Affairs Bureau in connection with the JBM, but charges were found to be ``unsubstantiated.''

The relationship between the two groups seemed to revolve around cocaine and the street tax. Merlino made an alliance with the JBM so that they could help him collect a street tax off drug dealers in south philadelphia by robbing, kidnapping them.

There apparently was some drug dealing between the two groups but I never heard of Merlino using the JBM to help him collect the street tax. Merlino, like the Philly mob in general, shook down other white bookies, loansharks, and drug dealers within their own neighborhoods. I don't think him trying to bring blacks into it would have gone over very well with the Philly mob in general.

Thats kinda what i thought. Plus why use them? They would think the street tax is their thing before to long of collecting it for Joey.

It was in either a Mob Talk or Mob Scene video of Merlino where GA showed footage of Joey and one of the guys from JBM who were friends. I think the guy was a rapper or something like that.

The rapper was tommy butter theres two videos of him on YouTube of saying why he cooperated. He was part of RAM SQUAD a hip hop group in the 90s.. (RAM SQUAD) stood for "The Richard Allen Projects in North Philly." There right around 7th and Fairmount which He was killed recently within the last year I'd say (I'd just google him) when he was in the Mt. Airy section Of Philadelphia outside a nightclub/bar. It was obvious it was payback for what he did...but it was deemed on the news and in online pdublications that it was a robbery..Don't quote me on it, but I'm pretty sure some articles said he still had his money and jewelry on his person.

I think he might have been killed the day that Skinny Joey Merlino was released from prison.

Heres an article on the street tax aspect of the relationship.
http://articles.philly.com/1999-06-22/ne...ny-joey-merlino


Merlinos ally in the JBM was arrested for murdering two drug dealers and apparently it was for their refusal to pay a mob tax in south philly. I think that merlino wanted to expand territory but did not want to get into conflicts with local black drug dealers so he started to work with the jbm so he could make more money and also increase the families muscle, and influence. They were also involved in their own coke deals, apparently a lot of the younger mob guys were being supplied by jbm. http://articles.philly.com/1989-08-30/news/26149193_1_italian-mob-mob-underboss-jbm The article seems a bit inaccurate when describing the history between the black mafia and the philly lcn.

Tommy butter gave info on a number of people such as a local imam who was an old school black mafia member that still maintained ties to black muslim prison gangs and drug traffickers and he also gave up a another drug gang that was storing up an arsenal of weapons probably to take him out so he could have been killed by anyone really.

can I interject for a minute,this guy your calling tommy butter don't you mean Tommy Hill.He was the one shot and killed plus the one that goes way back with Merlino.Are they the same guy or do you have them mixed up.On a lighter note reading that one article is funny ,back then calling ''skinny Joey'' merlino ''thin Joey''.

i just googled tommy butter and put jbm in there and the only thing that comes up is the articles on this forum.Meanwhile google tommy Hill and all the Merlino-Jbm stuff comes up.

yeah thats the guy i believe, pretty interesting joey had relationships with everybody bikers and street gangs alike

Yeah your right it is tommy hill not butter. I don't think hill was connected to the JBM he was running his own operation from the rich allen homes.They called themselves the richard allen mob and then he started the hip hop group called the ram squad till he got arrested and started to cooperate with investigations into drug dealing and city hall corruption. After he was released from prison he changed his rap name to butter. Merlino was helping him with his music career which sort of fizzled out i guess.