I would've thought the Philadelphia Mob Family since the Stanfa era was the easy answer here.
Stanfa wasn't picky, sometimes perhaps out of necessity/desperation; Merlino strikes me as someone who would induct a guy no questions asked if he was brought a large enough bag of cash.
Yeah Moe NY or whom ever really left him hanging..... what a mess that time was . Stanfa had some relatives in Ventnor (still do) that’s the only news we would get cos nobody here really knew him.
N.E. I am from jersey AC