Merlino looks sharp as a tac, he's really growing into that godfathers title

I'm not really following this and I don't give a shit one way or the other. But if it's true that they have pictures of this guy meeting with known felons three weeks after he came home, then he's going back to jail. But I agree that the Feds sitting on this information was a spite move.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. If he's out of the life, he has nothing to worry about. Because contrary to popular opinion, the Feds rarely "frame" a guy. But if he IS back in the game, then he's going to prison for another long stretch. Maybe not from this violation, but eventually. Because the Feds have nothing but time.

All merlino had to do was send messages through a person that's in trust, I don't understand it

Well, I honestly agree with you. IF he's still the boss, he has to be smarter than that.

that's easy , ego..got comfortable in his skin..he forgot that's where the feds look under your skin and up your ass when you are a target..he threw himself into the limelight, giving interviews ,talking about movies..how can he not think he is a name the g wants to take down..if the skins incident did not open his eyes as warning shot ..what will, another pinch?

After the feds sent Nicky Skins to Florida to try to get Merlino it should of been real obvious to him that the feds were out to get him. That last meeting with John Chang was just stupid. Merlino might not be a brain surgeon but he's supposed to be very street smart, i don't know what he was thinking. But i know that wasn't just a chance encounter like he claims.

I wonder who merlino met with when he was released to the halfway house

It'll come out. Just give it time.

Bigfella,

From Anastasia'a article from yesterday

"He fully understands the seriousness of such violations," the prosecutor argued. "John Ciancaglini was a co-defendant of Merlino’s in the instant case. Frank Fiore is a convicted fraudster. Bradley Sirkin, who is related to a capo in the Lucchese crime family, is also a convicted felon. In fact, by Merlino’s own admission in his memorandum of law, Merlino met Sirkin in a federal halfway house. Any suggestion that Merlino did not know that these were prohibited persons is patently unreasonable."

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=xSU4VN6HCvWNsQSotILICA&url=http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/26753476/mobster-joey-merlino-due-in-federal-court-in-philly&ved=0CB0QqQIwAA&usg=AFQjCNGyPfj83r6WhBtwCHwqDj4SAcJ5mA&sig2=fe_LrO7mML8nEkM2JX8XrA

The judge Is debating weather or not the feds time to violate merlino has expired

It's the date of the violation that counts, not the date of the court appearance. It works similar to statutes of limitations on crimes that are on the verge of running out. As long as the indictment is secured BEFORE the statute runs out, they can prosecute after the fact.

Maybe Joey's happy for the delay, though. He has a legal excuse to be in Philly now, and it's always nice to be home .

correct, they put it under seal.not more statute

A dapper Merlino is in old form at court

Share Tweet
Reddit Email 76 COMMENTS
Joey Merlino arrives at federal court this morning to answer government allegations that he violated his probation. ( YONG KIM / Staff Photographer )
Joey Merlino arrives at federal court this morning to answer government allegations that he violated his probation. ( YONG KIM / Staff Photographer )


JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Friday, October 10, 2014, 1:28 PM
POSTED: Friday, October 10, 2014, 9:34 AM


Former mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino cut a colorful figure as he strode into the Philadelphia federal courthouse Friday for his first appearance before a judge here in more than a decade.

Dressed in a floral tie and dapper suit, he threw a few needling jabs at the FBI agents who have tracked him for years, joked with gathered reporters and easily slipped back into the mouthy, media-friendly persona he'd cultivated as the head of the city's crime family.

"Can't wait to go to the parade," he quipped to the cameras on his way in to court.

As for the case that brought him back to town - a hearing on whether the 52-year-old ex-don violated the terms of his federal probation just weeks before it was set to end? It offered little of the same excitement and no clear decisions.

For more than two hours, prosecutors and lawyers argued legal technicalities, studied dates on the calendar and argued about office procedure as U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick weighed whether federal authorities had missed their deadline to try to put Merlino back in prison.

The judge did not issue a ruling Friday, and said he would put off hearing evidence on any alleged probation violations until he reached a decision on the timing issue.

Last month, Merlino's probation officer moved to revoke his release, saying he had violated its terms on two occasions - first, when he allegedly refused to answer questions about his finances in May and then again in June with a purported night on the town with three ex-felons at a Boca Raton, Fla., cigar bar.

But in court Friday, defense lawyer Edwin Jacobs Jr. argued that prosecutors failed to issue a summons for his client to appear in court on the charges by the Sept. 6 end date of his probation.

Prosecutors say Jacobs caused the delay himself by asking court staff to wait more than a week before scheduling a hearing while he juggled his own heavy case load and a pending surgery.

Either way, said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer, by filing a motion Sept. 2 that signaled their intentions, probation officers gave Merlino all the notice he needed.

"It's ridiculous," Troyer said. "Everybody in this case did exactly what they were supposed to. I don't think anyone has ever had the chutzpah to ask for a delay of a hearing and them complain about the delay."

For his part, Merlino sat quietly at the defense table throughout. Asked afterward what he made of the last-minute attempt to put him back in prison, he said: "They're mental."

Merlino was last seen at the courthouse in 2001, when he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his conviction in a racketeering conspiracy case.

He also stood charged at the time with more than half a dozen shootings, including those of a video-poker operator who refused to pay street tax, a rival mob leader and the brother of a witness in an earlier mob trial.

Merlino denied the allegations, and jurors acquitted him of those counts.

Since his release from prison three years ago, he has moved to Florida, insisted he has left his mob days behind him and talked about opening a restaurant in his new home of Boca Raton.

Still, federal investigators have kept a close eye on his activities ever since - even sending a wired mob turncoat to meet with him in 2011 in hopes they could catch Merlino discussing continued mob involvement.

Jacobs said Friday that now that his client's probation was over the prolonged scrutiny of his client should also come to an end.

"All of the federal resources spent on Joey Merlino over the years might be better served fighting ISIS or the spread of Ebola," he said. "Enough is enough."

jroebuck@phillynews.com

215-925-2649

@jeremyrroebuck


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201410...PveIkPwgQshY.99

Do people think it Joey was going to be released and live another 30 odd years and never meet again with a known felon? That's naive. It was going to happen. But he should know better than to do it within just a couple of months before his parole ended.

Well Joey still has his sense of humor despite the fact that the feds are doing their best to lock him up.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Merlino Packs Them In At Federal Hearing


By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net

Joey Merlino can still draw a crowd.

The one-time South Philadelphia celebrity mobster had a nearly packed courtroom for is probation violation hearing this morning. Friends, family members, law enforcement officials and more than a dozen members of the media showed up for a 90-minute proceeding that revolved around mundane technical issues and that offered all the drama of a first year law school seminar.

After the session before U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick ended without any resolution, Merlino, 52, attracted a swarm of television and newspaper photographers as he exited the building at Sixth and Market Streets.


Read more at http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/10/merlino-packs-them-in-at-federal-hearing.html#EKyAtrLSlGrC6dPU.99

The same broads complaining about Sammy Gravano whacking their family members on that Diane Sawyer interview probably once had the same fangirl attitude Joey Merlino's fanboys have.

It's all well and good glorifying and admiring these people until death comes knocking on your door.

Then again, you have the Ciancaglini brothers on opposite sides of a mob war trying to kill each other so...

Joey's not into selling drugs. He himself has never done drugs and thinks anyone that sells drugs these days is nuts. I'm looking forward for the restaurant opening in Florida. What was the outcome in court today? Was anyone on here in the area?

Do merlino have to stay in philly until the judge makes his mind up?

I'm not sure if he's obliged to but it makes little sense not to stay there until it's sorted one way or another.

so, on channel 29 they just said Merlino's lawyer is going to talk to Dave Schratwieser about things the feds could be spending money on & I gotta say, with everything going on in the world, this is a whole hella of a lot of a waste of money comparatively. obviously they're going to keep trying until they get him but c'mon already. he's a bad guy but this is a messed up world.

and I'm going to lose all credibility here but those glasses don't work on him.

I'm sure Merlino is in their budget.

Word is he had some of his associates moving coke in Florida, wouldn't surprise me. I mean how else can he support that lifestyle?

I didn't say he did drugs, how would you know anyway?

there was no outcome in court today.

Just watched FOX 29 at 6 and Dave S interviewed joey and had him walking into court, his bagman wags was by his side going in and out of the court and Johnny chang was there but not with joey just there sitting by a food stand, which was weird....even stranger was the muslim dude that was walking and acting like a bodyguard for joey, maybe he was from back in the days and some philly dude joey dealt dope with, he definitely wasn't a bodyguard and there was no bodyguards there around him, joey is a funny fuck though, looked like he loved being back in the spotlight

Then he'll have a ball at his eventual RICO trial .

Looked like he loved being in court? On the outside maybe but on the inside he'll be going mad, knowing what a dumb fuck he is.

Tommy, The soda fountain business is very profitable. Those Coke Big Gulps at 7-eleven sell for $2 bucks a pop and only cost 8 cents to make including the cup and ice. Also didn't I read somewhere that Joey owns stock in Pfizer, they pay a big dividend with all the big selling medications they have.

100%....i mean the feds probably should be focusing on other aspects of life in america but when you get away with murder like he has and just keep giving the middle finger to them they get mad......you keep throwing rocks at the jailhouse door they eventually let you in and PB you may be ending up being right with this.....churchill said it best "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"