Merlino bak to prison ???

Only on FOX 29 News: Former mob boss Joey Merlino is in trouble with the feds again, and this time it could land him back in federal prison.

Court documents just obtained Friday afternoon by FOX 29's Dave Schratwieser show that Merlino allegedly met with reputed South Philadelphia mob captain John Ciancaglini and two other convicted felons at a Florida restaurant and exclusive cigar bar in Boca Raton, Fla., back in June.

Federal probation officers say that violates the conditions of his release from federal prison three years ago.

The 52-year-old Merlino has been living in south Florida. He was scheduled to get off parole this Sunday. That is now on hold.

Federal prosecutors are seeking a hearing before a judge to revoke his supervised release.

This thread will be 7 pages long by the time I hit the "refresh" button

How long does he go back in for if parole is revoked?

Didn't Mazzone do the same knuckle headed thing and get house arrest?

It can be anywhere from the balance of the time, which would be ridiculous because he's scheduled to complete supervised release this week. Or what's more likely is, he'll have to serve out whatever time he had left when he was paroled. You know I don't follow Philly, but if memory serves he got out about two years ago, right?

So I'd say that if they really want to stick it to him, it would be for the two years that he was free. And or course, it's also possible that the Feds are getting ready to hit him with something bigger and they want him in prison when they do it (hmmmm, who has a retrial coming up that might have something to trade?).

He has got to be a moron if this is true , apparently this was bak in June

This is what finally convinces you that these guys are morons, Dom?

http://www.jazziz.com/nightlife/

http://www.bocasmoke.com/

If that is true....you are telling me he could not wait a couple months to bs over cigars? C'mon. Lol wtf

Moron. I wonder who the two other convicted felons are.

Also, the chances that Merlino doesn't end up spending the rest of his life in prison just seem really low to me.

Being in a one family town is bad news. Loving the splotlight, ordering murders... He is lucky he hasn't been locked up for life already.

Some things just flabbergast me

That is right around the the time that Eddie Jacobs went down there for a deposition from Skinny.

Eddie's health hes not been good ,so for him to fly in and fly out the next day ,had to be kinda important.

How ironic that they went to the same cigar bar.

Bingo.

Wonder what all the 'Joey has got smart with age' posters have to say about this? Joey is and always will be an idiot.

I'm not a Joey fan. But to be fair, handing out turkeys to South Philly Mama Leone's on 13th and meeting Chang and a couple guys at a cigar bar thousands of miles from South Philly aren't exactly apples and apples.

Merlino's attorney weighs in on the matter

PHILADELPHIA -
Only on FOX 29 News: Former mob boss Joey Merlino is in trouble with the feds again, and this time it could land him back in federal prison.

Court documents just obtained Friday afternoon by FOX 29's Dave Schratwieser show that Merlino allegedly met with reputed South Philadelphia mob captain John Ciancaglini and two other convicted felons at a Florida restaurant and exclusive cigar bar in Boca Raton, Fla., back in June.

Federal probation officers say that violates the conditions of his release from federal prison three years ago.

The 52-year-old Merlino has been living in south Florida. He was scheduled to get off parole this Sunday. That is now on hold.

Federal prosecutors are seeking a hearing before a judge to revoke his supervised release.

Merlino's attorney Edwin Jacobs tells Fox 29 he will fight efforts to put Merlino back in jail. He hopes to schedule a hearing in federal court in the next 2-3 weeks. Merlino will travel to Philadelphia for that hearing.

"I hope to dispose of this matter quickly," Jacobs said

He has seen the high life!, I am sure that he maybe tried to do it straight and narrow but earning an honest, average buck just will never wet the appetite once you have seen the other side. How could it?......Look at what Sammy the Bull did!

The 2 people that appear to have transitioned are the 2 that I believe are lying to the public. I believe they hid money over the years and still have enough to live in comfort.

#1 Michael Franzese
#2 Phil Leonetti

There are others.

Mikey Scars is apparently doing very well for himself. I've heard that he's making money hand over fist as a contractor. And I've read that Mickey Featherstone is just about the biggest success story in the history of Witness Protection. But for every two guys like that, there are a dozen Henry Hills and Sammy Gravanos.

You can change your life. But only if you really want to. And chances are, if you were a scumbag dope peddling deadbeat when you were in the mob, you're going to be the same scumbag when the Feds reinvent you.

But it still shocks me that people are surprised when these guys show their true colors. A piece of shit sporting a Brioni suit and a Presidential Rolex is still a piece of shit.

Ya Joey sd of known ppl wd be watchin his every move.

Merlino going back to prison. I have said that with him getting older, he should be getting smarter. I was wrong on that. Something tells me the feds wanted him in custody for another reason, could be the retrial coming up, with someone who has a lot at the bargaining table who could not just hurt Philly, but the New York Jersey factions as well.

The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. The smart get smarter. And the dumb get dumber.

Some people are one age their whole life.

Or to put it another way:
Looks like Joey's no restauranteur after all

In before Nicodemo flips and gives up Merlino for giving the order on Dipietro or whatever his name is, then Dom rolls...

Gotta say Featherstone surprises me. He was a psycho.

Let's not put the cart in front of the horse fellows...merlino was just in the bar enjoying a nice cigar, then all of a sudden look who walks in, it's my good friend from back in the old days, he had know idea he was going to be there, I'm sure the owner can put in a good word for his pal joey

Best joke of this thread so far.

Feds got nothing on him that can stick, it's just an publicity maneuver

So was the perp walk at the Ravenite in December 1990.

And I don't care one way or the other, but let's see how this plays out.

How it plays out is this: Nicodemo flips and joey, uncle Joe, poor ol Downy George, are all fucked.

And people start making bets on deCav vs Bruno family extinction...

Lol, good one thebigfella. The Feds have something, don't know what it is, but the feds have something. I say just wait for the weekend to be over, then we might get a better view of what is happening.

This is a different situation from gotti, it was a consistent pattern of gotti having the same meetings in the same place, with merlino, it was clearly a circumstantial one time freak of nature that this happened, joey said he retired they can't prove he didnt, and he's made an legitimate effort to turn his life around, and he have tons of clean cut guys that can vouch for that. Are you kidding? The new joey wouldn't be caught dead with these guys. THERE LOSERS!

It doesn't matter. Do you know many guys have been violated for "consorting with known felons" just for having a cup of coffee in the wrong place? Everyone from Sonny Franzese to Carmine Tramunti.

So again, let's just see how things play out before making any brash predictions. Time alone will tell.

@sonny: even if the 3 guys you've mentioned philly is still in good shape, with the guys on the streets and the guys that's coming out, they might even be ahead of the game because they will have a chance to make a ton of guys that's not on the radar

If the 3 guys you mentioned gets life

You guys are to quick to call a family dead, ice that trigger finger down

All due respect bigfella. But Philly are fucked.

Scraping bottom of the barrel and another big clean out if management IMO will finish them off. Philly's always been too many chiefs and not enough Indians. God knows their management over the past 10yrs constitutes almost a third of their members. Philly's top heavy, and Anthony flips? Philly's bang in trouble as a viable family.

And the proof is in the pudding BF.

Saying there's a ton of guys to be made under the radar is on par with Detroit fantasists thinking there's a huge undiscovered family there.

Just sayin.

I understand what your saying pb, but I since the tide is turning, the public is getting tired of the feds hauling in mob guys for a quick headline when you have terrorists running around, more so now then in the past for the feds to get a conviction they really have to bring the fire power, or the mob guy have to do something incredibly stupid

I am not saying Philly is dead, but I am saying they are hurting and feeling it. Jeoy was on parole and got caught meeting with other convicted felons, things like that happens all the time. PB gave a couple of good examples above.

Detroit have guys that goes to college and they do have a traditional family structure, who knows what those guys are doing, the best criminals are legitimate business people

Well if they're legitimate business people, they're not criminals are they?

Kinda defeats the purpose of being Cosa Nostra no?
I mean they're not many 3rd/4th generation Italian docs and lawyers who join a family just for the fuck of it, if you catch my drift.

And Detroit is over. Organised crime is non existent. And a card table at the soccer club every Saturday a OC family does not constitute.

I know what i do want to take a bet on, that this will be a 7 page thread...Any takers?

There's a new wave of crime that's taking place right under your nose..If your a captain of a family and run a profitable legal business, who cares if you take a little from here and a little from there, huh? You guys think if the bodies don't drop it don't exist, that's the old way of thinking...thier not even wracking guys no more they put them on the shelf and go back to making thier money

I'll buy this thread and hedge with the Merlino's restaurant thread all day long

And this is what YOURE missing.

If you're running a successful business, who gives a shit about the mob in the first place?

See 3rd/4th gen Italian Americans don't NEED the mob to get ahead. So, when you're ahead, do you need the mob? No.

The concept of a college led submersible Detroit OC flourishing family is a joke.
Ya gotta go with with the evidence here.

And it's kinda pointing one way.

Isn't frank cali a successful business man? Is he still in the mob? How many people in the mob is just like him?

Jesus Christ, just let it fucking go. You're never going to convince the guys who root for these assholes that the mob is a shadow of its former self. Get it back on track now before SC locks this thread.

Back on track: If there's a rat, Merlino is doomed. If Nicodemo's a rat, the entire Philly hierarchy is doomed. But then again, this might blow over. So let's just wait and see and at least keep it civil here.

I don't root for the mob I just call it like I see it, it bennifits some guys to say the mafia do sent exist, I'm just saying

Ok, let's get back on track...If merlino goes back to jail for 2 years, so what, and if nicodemo turn rat I don't believe he have concrete first Hand knowledge to get a merlino conviction

But you don't know any of this. Neither do I, for that matter. But the Feds have a 94 percent conviction rate for a reason. And please don't trot out that people are tired of rats and all that crap.

It's true that people are tired of rats, but the Feds stack the deck in their favor. Go ask guys like Tommy Gioeli and Little Dino, who are both going to die in jail, AFTER BEING ACQUITTED, if the Feds are pursuing Merlino just to give him two years.

And they'll always bat 90 percent. They've been doing so for two hundred years. Verdicts are cyclical. The wiseguys have had some success lately. But at the end of the day, the Feds will still beat these guys nine out of ten times. That's why the smarter guys have made an art of the plea bargain.

I understand where your coming from pb

Ditto. Like I said, only time will tell .

As Tony Soprano said.

Guys like me, we either end up one of two ways. Dead or in Jail.

And the mob doesnt wack bosses no more.


If you see my point.

Actually Im pretty sure I dont have a point.

But it was a good quote.

And most importantly, the Jays win at Fenway.

Keep in mind that people have been declaring the Philadelphia family as finished for years now. While the decline is certainly evident, the proclamations about it being finished have obviously been premature, though understandable considering the last 35 years of internal warfare, prosecutions, and defections. But when all is said and done, family still maintains some semblance of a hierarchy and has shown continued activity in ongoing cases in recent years.

^This.

"But at the end of the day, the Feds will still beat these guys nine out of ten times."

PB hit the nail on the head. The Feds have the resources and the time. All they need is that one in ten victory and you're fucked.

I really hope they don't nail him.

It was nice seeing a real honest to goodness gangster around town here and there.
Reminded me of the old days....

Good luck Joey.

Cops suck.

Sal

I don't know if this was mentioned before but this is a classic fed move they violate people at the end of probation supervised release all the time especially the last few weeks.

How can the Philadelphia Family post-old man Bruno even be considered Cosa Nostra?

It's just a bunch of wannabe Hollywood goofs.

And merlino is some Newport smoking saggy jeans wigger lol.

I think Scarfo Sr is cosa nostra. Insane, but cosa Nostra!

I also think Uncle Joe was true Cosa Nostra.....

Joey is Costa Nostra to the core, he its in his blood, period!

tell me you're kidding.

I'm sure he is, Sonny. Salvi's a musician AND from South Florida. That makes for an interesting sense of humor to say the very least .

Gotcha.
(I don't function well before noon...)

You don't do too well after sundown, either .

But you should see me inbetween....

only think they'll do is make him go in for 60 to 90 days and try to get some more money from him his lawyer should just have him surrender and start doing the time. like when the gov tried to have nicky skins set him up, but he was smart and told his probation officer first, this time he probably did it and even if its 60days they will fuck up his plans for the restaurant. think massino had one of his made guys be like door guy or what ever that guy frank is at raos big word don't remember. guy how talks to everyone. massinos place was casblanca I think made guys walking you to your seat no so lowkey.

I realize that many of these guys (wiseguys) are scumbags.

But on the other hand I have no use for Cops, FBI and especially the DEA.

I'm always armed and can protect myself.

I don't need assholes giving me 138.00 seatbelt tickets while I watch people ride motorcycles every day with no helmets.

Way too many laws in this country. Unless you are out there committing serious crimes against children or murdering innocent people they should leave everybody the fuck alone....

Sal

I can't understand why cops and the FBI get such aggravation from some people. Sure there are a few bad eggs (like Pantaleo) but you can't paint them all with the same broad strokes.

The crucial thing is there is a rogue element in every profession; be it the priesthood, the police, lawyers; but the mobsters? All of them are scumbags. There ain't no ifs ands or buts about it. They are a blight on Italian-Americans.

I was watching a documentary (can't remember which one) with Bruce Mouw talking on it and he was legitimately getting emotional talking about the high regard the likes of John Gotti were held in, and the way some people glorify and romanticise him/the likes of him. He was really sincere and genuine. It struck a nerve.

Moe, There is also a Philadelphia documentary were an agent is saddened when some Catholic grade school meets with Joey Merlino and tells him how he wanted to grow up and be ljust ike him. The agent said how much that offended him. It was sad because the father was with the kid and the kid was shaking Joeys hand happy as a clam!

Moe now wait just a minute, Don Corleone was a good man, other than that your 100% correct sir. BTW can someone please translate pmac's last post, I think he had some good stuff but I can't read texting shorthand.

Brando, De Niro, Pacino, Gandolfini, Liotta (honorable Italian American).

These are the great Italian Americans.

That wasn't shorthand .

I should clarify because pmac's a good kid and I don't want him to think we're laughing at him. But he posts from his iPhone all the time, and that's nearly impossible. I have fat fingers and 55 year old eyes. My posts would look like Chinese if I ever tried to type out more than a couple of sentences .

PB I concur, and pmac has good stuff

Ray Liotta isn't Italian!

"My daughter says you're half Jewish."

Thats one reason the feds were so hell bent on nailing john gotti. They couldnt just sit there and watch young kids idolizing him. The agent was really bothered by it.

The bottom line is that there may be a "few" decent cops, feds, etc. But most are on a power trip, and 90% of the women cops are bull dikes....and if you ever watch any of those "cops" shows the women only get involved "After" the men cops secure the big drunk rednecks that are beating the shit out of each other.

Figure the money they spent to put Gotti away......All that money for one guy. He was a trophy to them. Now when he beat his first two cases he should have walked away humble. That was his big screw up.

The feds, the DEA they never play fair. And those guys will lie through their teeth to protect each other.

Sal

Do you really think RICO is a fair and just law? Really, I'd like to hear opinions....

But in all fairness, Sal, and I'm no fan of abusive cops. But you've lived in Florida for fifty years. The cops down there are ten times as corrupt---and fifty times as dumb---as New York cops. And you know I'm not exaggerating.

Laws arent made to be fair or in some way level the playing field. They are put in place to put criminals in jail. The feds clearly know where to sit on the see saw.
That said, they also clearly ruin peoples lives knowing full well they are crossing the line but in the end, they just care about improving their records. Jr gotti comes to mind.

PB,

I was born in NY, moved to Fl in 1971 so I guess you could say I'm a "Floridian". Even though I'd go back and visit now and then.

I don't have ANY experience with NY cops so you could very well be right.

By the way....NEVER get busted in Broward County...the fuckin' worst.....

Maybe I just got a thing about EVERYBODY telling you what to do in this country....You need a license for this, a permit for that....and on and on.

Sal

I said fifty years, and it's "only" been forty three. I'm sorry .


Broward might be the worst on the Florida mainland. But Monroe County cops are the worst in the State. Go get yourself pulled over with New York plates by one of the Bubbas on the Overseas Highway in one of the smaller Keys. I dare you .

PB,

You just reminded me of something I haven't thought about in YEARS.....

Back around 1983 I owned a 66'Mustang (289V8 wish I still had it).
Anyway, me and a buddy decide we're gonna drive to NY, stay at my Grandmothers house for a couple of weeks and have a ball.

Now the word was that you had to be very careful driving through Georgia, the Carolinas etc. with "Broward County " plates. As a matter of fact the Georgia highway patrol would pull this shit where you either pay the speeding ticket in CASH right there, or post a 500.00 bond IN CASH to fight the ticket in Georgia court. So either way your fucked.

Anyway the last minute before we left I put a Confederate flag front plate on the car and another on the antenna.

The speed limit back then was only 55. I swear we did 70 all the way though the deep south and nobody bothered us.LOL

Sal

^^^^That's hysterical.

But Georgia is no joke. I had a VERY bad experience on Peachtree in Atlanta once. I was down there with some friends for a Mets-Braves game. All I'm gonna say is, don't ever get arrested on a Friday night in Fulton County. Especially if you're from up north.

Stupid cracker cops.

It really blows my mind by how many people root for guys they dont know to go back to prison?! If your family was directly affected from a crime i get it, but most of yous just praying on people (Philly crew) wit families for a downfall...they (FBI) bust this guys balls because he beat them, but at the end of the day he served 12yrs plus 3 yrs S.R thats 15 and now they wanna send him back???? Shame on them if they would have not tried to give him the death penalty wit the crazy trumped up charges they threw at him, he would of had a 45 yr sentence, so to me Philly DA are very responsible for there attempted railroad jobs and mistakes they've made in the past, for this guy n his crew to be in society, to me its BS and if he was black al sharpton and the rest of them racist fucks that only make noise when a cop or a white man shoot an innocent young black teen (SARCASM OBVIOUSLY) but they can basically do genocide to themselves n they dont make a peep LOL what a joke but thats the difference wit the blacks they stick together when there people get attacked, we (YOU) root for your own kind to go down but then cry when there's no one (people wit our balls) that u can go too and have us slap someone for insulting your daughter, or making sure it's safe where our grandparents who refuse to move out the house they've been in for 75 yrs no matter how bad the neighborhood has gone, its people like JM and his guys that can have that happen n not even the police can do that but instead the FBI wants to continue
To kick people when there down....for press n raises (SELF MOTIVATED)shame on you go get ISSIS n other crack dealing child molesting rapists out there then come get theses guys....losers

I pretty much agree with everything you've said. I have a brother in law who is doing 25 years for selling Vicodin....FUCKING VICODIN a schedule #3 drug. He caught some bad public defense, signed a guilty plea and Bam.....25 years. No gain time...hes got to serve 85%. He was no genius and he certainly was no saint. He deserved a few years to scare him a little, but they took his life away for some pills (BTW he was NOT selling to kids). I don't think he ever threw a punch in his life. He wouldn't know what to do with a gun if you handed him one.....yet there he rots. He went in in his late 30's.

I've had a few light conversations with Joey. I don't think he really cares about keeping Boca Raton safe from ****** (although there might be a couple here and there) He just wants to smoke his cigars and hang out.

CcWho gives a fuck if a kid "has it in his blood"

Joe merlino is a shithead saggy pants Newport puffing black wannabe that bought into the whole early 90s 2pac nonsense. How the Fuck is this fuckhead Cosa Nostra?

He would've been slaughtered mercilessly as a member of any family pre 1987

CcWho gives a fuck if a kid "has it in his blood"

Joe merlino is a shithead saggy pants Newport puffing black wannabe that bought into the whole early 90s 2pac nonsense. How the Fuck is this fuckhead Cosa Nostra?

He would've been slaughtered mercilessly as a member of any family pre 1987

Lol! Wtf? Have you considered therapy?

JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Sunday, September 7, 2014, 1:10 AM
POSTED: Saturday, September 6, 2014, 8:04 PM

Former Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino could be headed back to prison mere days before his court-ordered supervision is scheduled to end this week if federal authorities have their way.

His probation officers say the 52-year-old ex-don violated the terms of his release in June with a night on the town with one of his former mob captains and two convicted felons in Boca Raton, Fla.

The terms of his probation prohibit Merlino from associating with convicted felons or members of La Cosa Nostra.

For Merlino, who publicly swore off the mob and moved to South Florida after his release from federal custody three years ago, the new allegation could bring an abrupt halt to postprison plans that range from opening a restaurant or bar to launching a late-in-life acting career.

Merlino's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs, did not return calls for comment Saturday.

According to an affidavit filed in a Philadelphia federal court last week, authorities in Broward County, Fla., conducted surveillance on a June 18 dinner between Merlino and the ex-cons at an Old World Italian restaurant in a Boca Raton strip mall.

The foursome later departed for after-dinner drinks in the VIP area of the swank Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge, the document states.

In attendance were John Ciancaglini, a mob captain convicted alongside Merlino in 2001; Brad Sirkin, a convicted fraudster and money launderer; and Frank Fiore, the cigar bar's owner, who has a record of his own.

Though it remains unclear why Florida authorities were surveilling Merlino at the time, he may have simply picked the wrong bar and the wrong drinking companions. A month after the former mob don quaffed drinks at Havana Nights, federal authorities raided the bar and charged Fiore in a conspiracy to sell counterfeit Xanax, Viagra, and steroids.

In a separate violation, probation officers say, Merlino refused in May to answer questions about one of his business transactions, a breach of a requirement that he provide any financial information sought by his monitors.

The new allegations come more than a decade after Merlino was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his conviction in a racketeering conspiracy case.

His sentence included a standard three-year term of postprison probation that is scheduled to end Thursday.

In the same case that sent him to prison, Merlino stood charged 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.

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

Ever since, federal investigators have kept a close eye on his activities.

In late 2011, they sent a wired mob turncoat to secretly record a conversation with him at a Florida Dunkin' Donuts. They alleged in court filings that he still ran the Philadelphia mob.

In an interview last year with the website BigTrial.net, Merlino said he left all that behind the day he left prison and laid out big dreams for his next career move - a list that at the time included opening a Philly cheesesteak restaurant in Florida or cashing in on his colorful past with an acting career.

The Miami Herald's gossip columnist reported last week that Merlino had recently finalized plans to invest in a "high-end, South Philadelphia-style Italian place."

But the probation violation charge could throw all that into doubt.

It will require him to return to Philadelphia at least temporarily. U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick had not yet scheduled a date for a hearing.


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201409...JBgXFhRVzrt7.99

PizzaBoy,

I am a diehard Mets fan from jersey and I have never in my entire lifetime came across a Mets fan from the BRONX!?!?!?! Can you please explain to me how this happened?

It would probably take the same people riding Merlino's nuts having a close family member get gruesomely killed to get a cold, hard dose of reality.

Reminds me of all the women slamming Sammy Gravano (and looking for money) on that Diane Sawyer show. These bitches knew/know full well that their loved ones were no choirboys.

They had no problem reaping the fruits of Cosa Nostra until the heartbreak came down on their door.

Merlino wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire. Find someone else to idolise.

There's a few of us. But it wasn't easy growing up around Fordham. I'll tell you that much .

But seriously, my Dad's an old Harlem guy. He grew up a HUGE New York Giants fan. They bolted for California in '58, which was a year before I was born. He couldn't forgive the Giants, so he didn't root for anyone until the Mets came along. In turn, he became a big Mets fan. And he
made me one, too .

Thanks Dante, it will be interesting to see is they have video and audio of the meeting since they are reporting the place was under surveillance related to Fiore's bust that also involved Gagliano from New Orleans. I'm wondering if Fiore didn't throw Joey under the bus when he got pinched, never a dull moment with these guys.

Thanks Salvi thats really terrible for your friend, i wish him luck and hope when he gets out hes sues the govt for wrongful sentence and give him a million dollars lol

whats with the Tupac comments, did he like tupac and Huron how do you know that?

lol why do you say that, cause i ranted ?! lol

Lol Exactly!

I´m just messing with you. Welcome to the baords. Just don´t forget to take a breather once in a while when typing.

what the fuck do black people and al sharpton have to do about joey merlino?

merlino got a fucking slap on the wrist

Do you really think Joey hit Veasey's brother? What say you PB....

And BTW- The guy in jail for selling vikes is my brother in law, not just a friend.

Sal

I'm a Bronx and Manhattan guy, Sal. I don't speculate about Philly. And I only throw in my two cents about Florida because I live there part-time.

Ralph Natale claims that he himself ordered Billy Veasey's murder in retaliation for Veasey killing mike chianglini. so joey being underboss/defacto boss yeah he was probably in on ordering the killing but being that he was that high up he certainly wouldn't have pulled the trigger himself if thats what your asking.

I think Joe Merlino cermented his role as.defacto boss when he stood up.to scarfos crazyness and shot his son a dozen times. Fuck stanfa should have never made Joe for.that alone. He must have had some type of respect for him and for stanfa to make Joe must have made scarf sr. Nuts. Stanfa threw the boss rule book right out the window then his kid got.shot.

I agree 100%, that seriously took a lot of balls, he easily could have waited outside n been much safer but to go in a crowded restaurant with so many civilians not knowing if any were cops is beyond nuts and like u said that what makes him who he is out there...

The freeway shooting in broad daylight with civilian traffic all around was crazy too. The shooters were even run off the road. Can you imagine if they hadn't been able to get their car away? They would of been stuck on the side of the highway just waiting for the cops to come.

His takeover was truly some lucky Luciano shit! How can you not respect that

You guys are nuts. He didn't square up to Scarfo SR. He waited til he was in jail to attack; the son. And, no one can say for certain he pulled the trigger. As for the highway shooting, was he there??

It's very easy to order someone to kill, as opposed to killing yourself. Chuckie was brought up in LCN by Scarfo. That's how the Merlino family got started in OC. Ask anyone around, Joey is/was a bully. Very easy to be tough with a group of guys around you. He is an opportunist. Loyal to himself. LCN to the core...

Merlino under investigation agaiain

WILLIAM BENDER, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER BENDERW@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5255
POSTED: Monday, September 8, 2014, 3:01 AM


JOEY MERLINO insists that he's gone legit, but the number of people who actually believe him is dwindling.

Sort of like the mob.

The former South Philly mob boss - or current boss-in-exile, some law-enforcement officials would say - is facing a new round of legal troubles.

Merlino, 52, will have to travel from his home in South Florida to Philadelphia in the coming weeks to face allegations that he violated the terms of his probation by associating with two felons and a member of La Cosa Nostra in mid-June.

Perhaps more interesting, though, is why the feds waited until last week - days before Merlino would have completed his three-year period of supervised release - to reveal what they've known all summer.

Sour grapes? No.

A source familiar with the case said that the process was delayed due to the possibility that Merlino could have been indicted on new charges. When that didn't happen, they showed their cards.

Probation officers say that Merlino, who served 12 years in prison on a 2001 racketeering conviction, was spotted on June 18 hanging out with reputed Philadelphia mobster John Ciancaglini at the Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge, in Boca Raton, Fla. Ciancaglini was convicted alongside Merlino in 2001.

Detectives from the Broward County Sheriff's Office saw Merlino in the bar's VIP area with Ciancaglini, as well as Brad Sirkin and Frank Fiore, who both have fraud convictions, according to the court affidavit. Fiore also was charged this summer in a counterfeit-drug case.

"If Ciancaglini shows up, that's a red flag up," a law-enforcement source said. "That's what they do. They associate and they network and they create a criminal organization."

Merlino, who was released from a federal prison in Indiana in 2011, is prohibited from associating with felons and members of La Cosa Nostra or other organized-crime groups.

Merlino's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr., declined to comment on the affidavit, but said he planned to schedule a court hearing soon.

"I'm going to do what I can to bring this matter to a conclusion," Jacobs said.

Merlino could be thrown back in jail, but a law-enforcement source said that the judge could also decide to simply extend his supervised release so that he can continue to pay down the $337,943.89 in restitution owed from the 2001 case.

Merlino has reportedly been considering opening an Italian restaurant in Boca Raton, although Jacobs said last week that it's only a rumor.

Some law-enforcement officials believe that Merlino continues to call the shots in South Philly, and that reputed mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi is mostly a figurehead, similar to Ralph Natale in the 1990s.



On Twitter: @wbender99




Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201409...z966QPc4p6BH.99

Well said.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014

Joey Merlino Heading Back To Philadelphia
By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net


Joey Merlino’s coming back to Philadelphia.

But the erstwhile mob boss is not happy about it.

Instead of completing plans to open a restaurant in Boca Raton, the 52-year-old former South Philadelphia wiseguy will have to appear in federal court at 6th and Market Streets and explain to a judge why he should not be sent back to prison for violating the terms of his supervised release.

According to a violation notice filed last month, Merlino was spotted meeting with mobster John “Johnny Chang” Ciancaglini and two other convicted felons on June 18 at a restaurant and a cigar bar in Boca.

Merlino, Ciancaglini and five other co-defendants were convicted in a highly publicized 2001 racketeering case in Philadelphia. Merlino, the boss of the crime family at the time, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

Ciancaglini, a mob capo, was sentenced to eight years and three years of supervised release. He has completed his entire sentence. Merlino was about to finish his supervised release term this week after which he would have been free to meet and associate with whomever he liked.

The timing of the violation was seen in underworld circles as an attempt by federal authorities to, in the words of one mob associate, “bust his balls.”

The alleged meeting with Ciancaglini and the two other felons occurred on June 18, according to court records, at La Villetta, an Italian restaurant and later at Havana Nights, a cigar bar in Boca Raton. Yet the violation notice was not filed in federal court in Philadelphia until Aug. 25 and Merlino was not notified until Sept. 2.

Contacted by phone, Merlino declined to comment but said his lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr., was moving to set up a hearing as soon as possible. Merlino said he would offer an explanation in court.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said one source familiar with Merlino. “Why would he meet in a public place with Johnny Chang? What was so urgent or so important that he would risk his freedom?”

Merlino could be ordered back to prison. Other co-defendants in the racketeering case have been sentenced to from four to six months in the past for violating the terms of supervised release. What’s more, the judge could order that Merlino be placed on supervised release again for an extended period of time, thus limiting his ability to meet with individuals and to travel.

Merlino moved to Florida following his release from prison and has said repeatedly that he has no intention of returning to South Philadelphia or to the criminal underworld. His activities in Florida, however, have attracted both law enforcement and media attention.

The latest publicity has centered on reports that he intends to be involved in the operation of an Italian restaurant in Boca. As a convicted felon, Merlino could not be part of a business that held a liquor license. But he could be involved as a consultant or in some other capacity.

The restaurant, Merlino said in a phone interview, would offer “South Philadelphia-style Italian food.”

“There’s nothing like that down here,” he said, adding that his mother Rita might bring some of her homemade recipes to the kitchen.

Merlino offered few other details, but he has been gathering mementoes, including newspaper headlines and clippings from his days as a Philadelphia mob celebrity. That kind of material, blown up and framed, could be part of the restaurant décor.

Another Merlino co-defendant, Angelo Lutz, has done exactly that in his highly successful Kitchen Consigliere Café in Collingswood. Lutz, convicted with Merlino and Cicanglini, has been a restaurateur for four years in the South Jersey food mecca that is Collingswood.

He startede in a small, 38-seat establishment on Powell Lane and last year moved to a larger facility that seats close to 100 at the corner of Collings and Haddon Avenues, literally in the center of town. Reservations on weekends are a must at Lutz’s joint and Merlino, with his high profile name recognition, was apparently hoping to duplicate that success in the Sunshine State.

All of that is now on hold while the parole violation issue is sorted out.

Federal authorities are offering no explanation about the meeting but court documents indicate that two detectives in Broward County, FL, had Merlino under surveillance on the night he and Ciancaglini met.

In May, Merlino, 52, had to appear before federal authorities and answer questions about his finances. Jacobs also represented him at that hearing.

How Merlino has managed to live a relatively comfortable life in Southern Florida with little visible means of income is a question that has been asked in both law enforcement and underworld circles since he opted to move to Florida when he was released from federal prison.

Despite his denials and claims to have left the mob, there are those who believe Merlino is still a player in the South Philadelphia underworld and is routinely receiving cash from illegal activities there. Those who believe that scenario see the meeting with Ciancaglini as part of an ongoing operation.

Merlino has been living in a posh condo and is frequently seen at popular bars and restaurants in the Boca Raton area. The alleged violations occurred at two such places, according to a report filed in U.S. District Court which reads in part:


On June 18, 2014, the defendant was observed by detectives from the Broward County Sheriff's Office (Florida) to be in the company of John Ciancaglini, Brad Sirkin, and Frank Fiori, all of whom are convicted felons. According to the police report, on June 18,
2014, detectives were conducting surveillance of the defendant and observed him leaving his residence located at 67 Hawthrone Place, Boca Raton, Florida and enter a vehicle driven by Don Petullo. They followed the two to La Villetta Restaurant, located in Boca
Raton, Florida. Shortly after the defendant arrived at the restaurant, several individuals exited the restaurant and met with the defendant in the parking lot.
Joseph Merlino's vehicle and three other vehicles left the parking lot of the restaurant and headed to the Havana's Nights Cigar Bar located in Boca Raton, Florida. The defendant and the other individuals entered the establishment. Two detectives then entered the Havana's Nights Cigar Bar and observed the defendant in a VIP area within the bar interacting with John Ciancaglini, Brad Sirkin and Frank Fiori. John Ciancaglini is a co-defendant of Merlino in this case and is also known to be a member of the La Cosa Nostra of Philadelphia.
In 2000 [ed. Note, correct date is 2001] along with the defendant, Mr. Ciancaglini was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, aiding and abetting; conspiracy to extort a bookmaking business, aiding and abetting; and illegal sports bookmaking business, aiding and abetting. Mr. Ciancaglini was also convicted in 1989 of Hobbs Act conspiracy, Hobbs Act extortion, and attempted Hobbs Act extortion, aiding and abetting, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Brad Sirkin was convicted credit card fraud, in 1989 in Anaheim, California; and of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property, conspiracy and money laundering in September 1992 in the Southern District of Florida. Frank Fiori was convicted of a felony fraud charge in 1997, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
The defendant did not have permission from the probation office to associate with these convicted felons.

“It was a stupid thing to do,” said another underworld source while discussing the meeting.

The source, who has repeatedly scoffed at Merlino’s claim to have left the mob, added, “These guys can’t help themselves. They are who they are and that’s all they know.”

George Anastasia can be contacted at George@bigtrial.net


POSTED BY GEORGE ANASTASIA AT 12:03 PM
TRIAL: SKINNY JOEY MERLINO

Read more at http://www.bigtrial.net/#tcmFq4wcf1sOrgtM.99

Not sure about the exact timing of this event but it seems to be pretty close to the day of the anniversary of the murder of michael cianglini and maybe john and joey it was the first time they have been out together that they could discuss a brother of theirs that was murdered in s philly..... in teh big picture the feds are really wasting money following this guy as well as the broward detectives

there is so much street level crime in ft lauderdale I am sure they could have been trying to stop that rather than some gangster from philly eating an italian meal and smoking stogies

Merlino, one of the articles above mentions that the meeting which started all this took place in June. I checked to see when Mike was killed and it was in August '93. it was a stupid mistake for Joey to meet with them in public. He knows he's being looked at. To meet publicy was just plain stupid!

who is don petullo?

so it wasnt by chance the detectives saw him at the cigar joint. looks they tailed him right from his house.

they have a huge hard on for him evidently.

Cheech, I looked it up and it says he'sDon Michael Petullo a former Las Vegas businessman who worked in the casino industry, registered a company, DNS Inc., at Merlino’s Boca Raton address.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/mafia-icon-moves-400k-boca-raton-home/nSQDQ/

Oh come on it's personal and the cards are stacked in the feds favor.

Feds want him bad and the fkn broward cops being the ones to do the work of the federal govt by keeping an eye on joey merlino smokin stogies is funny.... young detectives trying to be federal agents chasing a dude they probably wouldnt know walking down the street

Mike russell Mob Cop facebook page has a picture with Joey Merlino and two other guys. One i Think is his lawyer. Joey is smoking a cigar and wearing the latest Florida Mobster summerware, Pink Shorts! Maybe someone can post it on here. The caption is:
"Philly mob guy Joey Merlino pictured below, on the left with the pink pants (Mob guys with pink pants?). Court documents were unsealed by the US Attorney in Philly yesterday at 5pm that are going to send Merlino back to jail. This genius (Merlino) was hanging in a cigar bar with his wise guy buddies, where every other patron was an undercover cop. Wise guys today are just dumb as bricks."

that piece of shit russell wouldnt know his ass from a hole in the ground

exposed as a fraud and his entire story was fabricated.

he was never shot, riccardi just beat his ass so bad he thought he was shot lmaoooo

HandsomeStevie posted this up a couple of months ago..I don't know if that's the pic you are talking about.

I don't even follow Philly but it's common knowledge what a lying sack of shit that Russell is. That book of his is a joke. I wasn't even aware that he had a website .

Yes, thats the Pic that Russell has on his facebook. Never seen a Boss of a cosa Nostra family wearing pink shorts. Can you imagine Gotti, the Chin wearing them? Thank you for posting NJCapo35. I must have missed Handsome Stevies posting.He does have some great pics on Philadelphia.

Pink shorts ?? Those are "Nantucket Red" colored shorts as the fucking yuppies say. This thread is on 5 pages. I'm guessing it'll hit double digits by Tuesday.

And today is Monday from what my smart phone tells me

Smart Phone.

Smart, phone.

Has to be posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIC6yRjBGwM

First thing I thought of, Sonny .

But a "Don" never uses that silly word, either. He's the Boss .

Say what you will about the Skinny one, but the feds want him put down. Joey's popularity and elusiveness is an embarrassment to the them given that Joey has made no effort to hide who he is and what he does.

I think I saw an interview with Gandolfini where he said he was approached by a wise guy and was told "wise guys never wear shorts".

*Bawz

At least that choice of words is believable. But a sitting Boss telling another sitting Boss that "a Don doesn't wear shorts"? Pleeeze .

And you only had to see some of these guys out on Long Beach or in Rockaway back in the day. Shorts, black socks and white fucking shoes.

Some of them even had shorts/safari shirt sets when they were popular (for about five minutes back in the '70s). They looked like the old leisure suits but with short pants and short sleeves. I swear on my kids .

Do you have a link to his webpage?

I think Beanshooter put it up.

Red, it's

http://mikerussellmobcop.com/

This really is as dumb as Gotti requiring everyone to come to the Ravenite right under the feds nose. Did Joey think nobody would see them? He is the feds target #1 as for as the mob goes, they don't do the teflon anymore..unless Gotti Jr. Gets brave..

That cop seems like jack bauer, chuck norris and tim tebow rolled into one superman... he needs to be one of the new charcters on X-Men

As much as I dislike Cuban Peter the Super Agent (my pet name for that fat pig Jack Garcia), at least he has some credibility. This guy is a complete joke.

ahahahaha you gotta be fucking kidding me

Do not know of him just read the bio and how he is pumping his service to help infiltrate whatever..... sounds like a joke

Think the FBI was banking on the auto shop guy flipping selling out Merlino and holding him as a danger to the communityinthe near future now they got a parole violation that's it.

Keep in mind Nicodemo is THIS close to rolling (first trial tried to fuck with the jury, now he has ONE card left...)and then... Night night Philly.

You're giving the fan boys fits, Sonny .

Does Nicodemo have anything on Joey he was in prison for the past decade i guess it could be dominoes effect and the feds use everyone to bring joey up on some murder charges he hasnt been tried on yet

I just don't see how you would know, or have evidence that proves Nicodemo is THIS CLOSE to flipping as you say. The Feds thought they would get Galati to give them everything on Skinny/Uncle Joe and Philly in general? That didn't work out. Now, exactly like that article says, they have "sour grapes" and just want to get Merlino on the parole violation because they have nothing else.

Galati most likely is going to be put away for the rest of his life, and it seems like he's going to keep his mouth shut. Why is it so inconceivable then that Nicodemo will keep his mouth shut as well? I've posted this before. I'm not saying that he won't flip - it could very well happen if he loses the case and is looking at life in prison. And, the only reason I think there is a chance he flips, is because he is still relatively young and he has a hot wife and kids at home. I just don't understand why everyone thinks it is a guaranteed slam dunk that he is going to rat?

With the exception of that puppet Ralph Natale, nobody that has come up under Joey's faction has become a rat since he's been in charge. And even Natale was around as an associate during the Bruno days.

I don't want to be considered a fan boy. I just have a different opinion. I will concede, however, that if Nicodemo does turn, that could very well be the final nail in the coffin for LCN in Philadelphia. Their numbers are already low. Most of the top level guys would be taken off the street and they would be reduced to nothing more than a street gang. I don't think there would be any need for a formal hierarchy at that point.

Galati may be a tough guy now. And so may Nicodemo. But, give those guys some time in the pen, See if a few blow jobs can't change their mind.

You're right, and I tend to agree with you. But, I don't think Galati may be given enough credit. I may not be 100% correct here, but I'm pretty sure he's done some considerable time before and they asked him to give up Uncle Joe and anything on the family at the time. He did his time and kept his mouth shut like he was supposed to.

Like I said, BOTH of them may very well become rats and give up everything they know. But right now, I just don't see it as a "slam dunk" like everybody else does. Just my two cents.

Don Merlino wears pink shorts, gives interviews, has an Instagram account and meets with mobsters 2 months before he's off license.

The modern day Mafia boss

I agree with KING6 on Nicodemo that it's not a certainty he'll flip. Some guys are loyal to the very end. Personally I think he will flip once found guilty next year but who knows.

Yeah Savie that's a tough one,down here in Florida they do some kind of a form of a commercial that says this,that,and then it has an undercover with a mask on and he puts a small bottle of pills on the hood of a car and says this controlled substance will get you 25 minimum.Pretty damn outrageous I mean you deserve some time but that's nuts.

Buddy I totally agree with you, people on hear want him to flip so they can hear some inside stories about the Merlino mob, but like you said he doesn't have too many Rats that grew up with him, to me his south Philly crew are the real deal and they all were raised with the "Mob stuff" going on there whole life from fathers to uncles and so on...these guys ain't Rats, they really have proved it through the years with the cases they've been involved in...and I do think Nicodemo is going to beat it, not by his crazy allibye but I think they can get to a juror in a state case!!
I don't have an opinion on Galati.

PB in the movie ''The Wanderers'' [I love that movie]that girl that Ken Wahl is going to marry her father has about 3 or 4 brothers and they have that look with the shirts your talking about.All were big and smoking cigars,that was the ''look'' back then.

Wouldn't mind but it's not like he grew up during the technology explosion of the late nineties or early noughties. He's what 52?

Technically he did. He was in his 30's then and as I'm in my mid 30's I still play the ps3 but yet I bitch about rap music. I'll say the 30's you are kind of stuck between the younger group and the older group.

Skinny Joey has an instagram acct??!! Unbelievable. Gotta see it...what is his user name?

Great way of putting it, "stuck in between age groups" i know what ya mean lol

I know his instagram acct, and i dont know him, but i would still feel like a RAT giving it you lol so go find it yourself NO DISRESPECT

I know what it means to be stuck in between a rock and a hard place.

Well, considering that Joey made a PUBLIC Instagram account and posts pictures to it knowing that anyone in the world can view it, I wouldn't consider anyone a rat for giving out the link to his page. However, you have to have your own Instagram account and "follow" his account to be able to view any of his pictures. I don't have an account, so I haven't seen anything he has posted.

http://instagram.com/joeysnm

Yep I find myself now bitching about what the younger kids are doing yet I was a straight up and down hellian when I was their age. I'm getting over all that and find myself thinking "damn I'm getting old" yet I'm only 34

Yet there is still a lot I do that makes people think I'm actually younger than I am. When I look back on it, it seems a lot of 30 year olds do the same thing. I guess it's because we are just getting out of the 20's and craziness of our youth and into the older side of ourselves. Who knows

I'll be 55 next month.

You guys are whiny idiots .

pb ive only been on this site for two weeks, and I can see its for young guys. nevertheless I enjoy it. your just a youngster. im 72 and like your posting. you seem very credible to me.

as long as nicodemo can get his meth he'll probably be aight

No one knows, of course.

But where would your money be?
The odds of a young guy with a young family giving up his next 50yrs, his children for the PHILLY mob, and Joey?

Well, do you like those odds?

Binnie I'm an old timer as well, in my late sixties, and my oldest boy is 52 and my youngest child 36 an they are all tech efficient and they couldn't live without their smart phones, especially the oldest son that works with me, but my 12 year old Grandaughter is the most tech savvy I go to her for all the important stuff

Did you not read the end part of my post?

well, thanks guys, I don't feel so old now, as far as computers go I was born to late, been trying to get in my e mail for two days. a friend of mine reworked my browser and it was a mistake.

You took the words outta my mouth. They're not pink, they're 'Salmon' and I'm sure lotsa wise guys have worn them and still wear them. You guys are nuts!

... And Joey walks! He didn't even know Chang was there!

I live in Boca. Used to see Joey around once and a while.

I Just can't believe this stupid thing happed.

And the asshole Broward County cops.....They got nothing better to do than follow Joey around with all the crime that goes on there????

I was raised there (BC) moved there in 1971. It was a paradise, now its a shithole. Hookers, Oxys, H, crack heads and they are worried about Joey......ass clown cops.

Sal

He def made a huge mistake going out with the guys but I really don't think he'll be punished for it, especially if he has a legitimate business coming, but then again with his background he should know there's an eye on him 24/7 and them prosecutors got a real hard on for him, so def Dumb move.
But really his crew is strong, there all bringing him $ and him and his guys deserve it until some Young Turks like himself comes along and start shooting, other than that Phillys there's, he's well respected in a lot of cities especially New York and Chicago, so when he's officially free I bet he'll be everywhere!!
He earned the "respect" from all mob circles for the things he's did and got away with,,not from victims or people he's affected but def within the mob he's looked at with respect.

Welcome to the board all that, Joe .

But please, New York and Chicago?

New York and Chicago have their own problems without having to worry about what's going on down at the Jersey Shore and in South Philly. No one outside of that area cares about who's emptying Joker Poker machines and shaking down parking lot attendants at the Borgata. Trust me on that.


And I wish Joey luck. But if he's "everywhere" when his supervised release is over, he'll eventually end up back in jail. Guaran-fucking-teed.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x108w16...o-lucchese_news

26:24

Audio of Stanfa planning the Merlino hit.

Good stuff, Moe. The irony is, if it wasn't for that tape we probably wouldn't be having this debate today .

Moe was this a wiretap on a telephone or a bug somewhere? If it was a phone did they think by whispering the feds would not hear them? If so they are real dumbfellas.

Thanks for posting

Other people would probably have a better idea than me. I just came across this yesterday and thought I would share.

There's also surveillance footage and audio of the Joey Chang hit and some rare footage of Merlino, Stanfa, Salvie and Riccobene.

It's pretty good. Caramandi tells it pretty straight.

it's pretty pathetic when a soldier can take on the boss

win by default, and get his ass kissed like he's champion

scarfo must've literally killed any philly mob guy that had half-a-brain

That was a bug in sal avena's office. He was a lawyer in Camden who died a couple years ago. He was charged with racketeering but was acquitted.

Somebody had to pickup the pieces, if not merlino than who? Merlino is the reason why there still is a costra nostra in philly to talk about

You kidding?
The Feds love NOTHING, and I do mean NOTHING more than catching a mob boss. NOTHING.




Philly is fucked. and hanging on by a thin, THIN thread. There is no legion of 'young turks' coming through, there is only a top heavy 'organization' of gangsters who are SHITTING themselves about Anthony Nicodemo flipping. Which he will.




Joey, outside of a SMALL circle of friends in Philly has SHIT elsewhere.
You find ONE guy from the Westside who would buy this guy a drink let alone piss on him if on fire, and Ill give my nuts to the cat.
NY DOES NOT give a SHIT about Joey, and thats putting it nicely.

"This guy being everywhere"?
Welcome to the boards but Joey will be lucky to spend half his remaining years outside prison IF HES SMART, let alone be a mob boss who's everywhere..
And if ANYONE in Chicago has even HEARD of him, let alone respects him, let alone NYC....

1985 is LONG gone.

He did. He killed a lot of people that should still be walking the streets making money today. They had the mentality to survive in this era. I don't think Scarfo would have whether he went away in 89 or not. Look at his son for example, he lived it up for a little. Had $$$ and statue but he lost that rather quickly. Maybe Scarfo is talking to the feds about Joey?

Scarfo would never talk to the feds first of all and second he doesn't know anything about Joey, the guy made a stupid mistake and violated his parole end of story

After the stanfa war, the bosses from new york wanted merlino to take charge but he turned it down and installed Natalie as boos, so he does have respect from new york

Sonny, I think the Feds might extend his supervise release but I don't think they'll throw him in the can for that violation, I do think there building a case against him again but god only knows for what.

"Top heavy" wit guys that were around in the 90s is a good thing, they can still go for another 15yrs wit all the Non Beefers he's got in his crew!

What I mean by him having respect from Chicago and New York meant, the guys background is enough for any other mob guy in the country to respect him, let's face it he faced the death penalty how many times and was accused of some serious shit, went to trial beat it and did his time like a man.
So even if they don't know him which I don't believe is true, within 5 minutes of meeting the guy and hearing the stories, he would get instant respect.

He was in jail for 10+ and went to war wit older mob bosses that went to jail for life before he started his bid and he was never beat up threatened or anything, so I do believe other gang chiefs or mobsters do respect him and recongnize him as someone important, if not I think he woulda got beat up multiple times in jail, it ain't like he's a big guy lol

Thanks big fella, I figured someone would agree, dude as much as some people hate him he def has solidified himself as "leader, crazy, boss material" since the scarfo hit, n like u said the stanfa war put him on the map, even if he won by default. Joey has got some big balls and so does the guys he came up with, borgesi, Mazzone, Angelina, Chang, lance, this is a tight group of guys that seem like they'll last if they smarten up.

hey you know whats funny about Joeys Instagram account? His user name is Joe Slim, Just like yours buddy!

Beefers? Hmmm, thats a strange word. Where have I heard that before?

And the funny thing is, Nice_Guy is the guy who ended up getting this thread locked:

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthr...true#Post759230

Where did you hear this?

Uuh Jeez, not again....I hear...*drumroll*..Crickets!

Even if it's true, which is open to debate, to say the very least, that was over twenty years ago.

Today, in the year 2014, no one, but no one, outside of South Philly, cares who's emptying out a bunch of Joker Poker machines.

Lol....That statement reminds me of the scene in Donnie Brasco where they are breaking open parking meters....Open Sesame

A lot of parking meters down there in Florida.

But I wonder how those goombahs would adapt to the times?

....Yeah i guess you would have to use a little more brain power there.

Beefers? Hmmm, thats a strange word. Where have I heard that before?

And the funny thing is, Nice_Guy is the guy who ended up getting this thread locked:

Beefers is a Chicago word I guess, Sorry but you lost me on that one

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March 22–29, 2001

city beat| mob trials

Who’s the Boss?

Was Ralph Natale the head of the local mob or a henpecked, know-nothing straw man? Depends on which gangsters you talk to.

by Jim Barry and Howard Altman

Hanging with Mr. Big:Ruthann Seccio and Ralph Natale relax at a Philadelphia bar/nightclub in 1997.

When Ralph Natale and Ruthann Seccio finished their dinner at Striped Bass on a warm Thursday night in the spring of 1998, they were not finished for the evening.

It was still early, and the reputed boss of the Philadelphia Mafia, then 67, and his girlfriend, 29, wanted to have a few more drinks.

So they stopped in at Gino’s Café — a supposed mob haunt in South Philadelphia — to hobnob with his alleged underboss Joey Merlino, some of Merlino’s friends, including Georgie Borgesi and Marty Angelina, and an assortment of Pagan motorcycle gangsters who happened to be in the bar that night.

What happened next is a matter of debate in the underworld and speaks volumes about the relationship between Natale and Merlino — a relationship now under scrutiny in a federal murder and racketeering trial, with Merlino, Borgesi and Angelina among the defendants and Natale as star witness.

Ralph Natale is the first alleged mob boss in the history of the American Mafia to become a government witness. But was he really the boss?

A number of Merlino’s underworld allies claim Natale was a straw man who really didn’t know much about the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra’s day-to-day activities — including murders. A key part of Merlino’s defense will hinge on painting Natale as a liar; according to that scenario, Natale is trying to save himself by making up stories about his and others’ role in the mob, and is using the federal government to exact revenge on fellow gangsters he believes betrayed him.

It wasn’t always this way between Natale and Merlino, who met as cellmates in a federal pen in McKean, PA.

That night at Gino’s Café may have been the beginning of the end.

 

Everyone who was at Gino’s that night agrees that Natale got into some kind of beef with Seccio.

But the stories differ beyond that, with Seccio painting a portrait of a minor lovers’ spat, while sources close to Merlino say that she was bossing Natale around — in their eyes, a horrifying sign of weakness.

Seccio, interviewed over lunch recently at The Plough & The Stars, says she was jealous that Natale was paying attention to other women that night at Gino’s.

"Ralph was talking to these two women who were flirting with him and sticking their chests out in his face," she says. "Real sluts. So I told Ralph to come over here, away from those two. Of course he didn’t. So when he finally came over to sit down, he shoved me off my chair. I shoved him back. That was it. End of story. The next week he sent me a dozen roses every single day to apologize."

Seccio says she was in love with Natale and that they spent almost every night together, including trips to Florida, New York City and summer love nests in Brigantine and Margate.

"Ralph loved to take me to very good restaurants. He was a total gentleman," she says in between bites of a hamburger. "Ralph was very loving and protective of me. He was a wonderful lover.

"By that I mean he taught me everything about love and how to make love. I used to think that sex was just laying there and moaning and groaning until I met him."

She smiles for a moment.

"He was very well-endowed," she says. "I was a very happy woman."

 

Made in the shade: Natale at the Jersey shore in ’97.

Friends and associates of Joey Merlino who were there that night tell a different story.

Speaking on condition of anonymity in a recent interview in a South Street nightclub, these sources say that Natale was attacked by his girlfriend.

"Ruthann scratched Ralph," says one source. "She was yelling at him that she didn’t want him talking to Joey Merlino. She attacked him and started scratching his face and head. Blood was running down over his eyes. Then they started fist-fighting. Punching each other. We were mad. How could this man, Ralph, allow anyone to disrespect him like that? If Ruth had tried that with [imprisoned former mob boss] Little Nicky Scarfo she would have been dead in two minutes."

"Scarfo was a real gangster," the second source at the nightclub says. "This Natale, he was a fraud. After that night in Gino’s we all wondered, ‘What was wrong with this guy? How could he let a broad treat him that way?’"

In a separate interview, another crime soldier who was an eyewitness to the Gino’s incident says that "we all wanted to get up and just pound Ruthie. But Joey [Merlino] had to calm us down. He even had to calm some of the Pagans because they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. They wanted to beat Ruthie up and Joey told them to leave it alone. We were foaming at the mouth, we were so mad."

In the Philadelphia crime family, there was smoldering resentment over the place Ruthann Seccio occupied in the mob boss’ life. One mob associate charges that "Ralph turned to selling drugs just to have enough money to keep Ruthann. Of course he didn’t tell us anything about it."

At the South Street nightclub, Merlino’s allies claim Natale was obsessed with Seccio and was jealous of any man who came near her. "After a while that’s all he thought about. We’d all be having dinner with Ralph and all of the sudden Ruth would show up and he’d pretend it was an accident. ‘Look who’s here. Ruthie, what are you doing here?’ Ralph would pretend and then she’d sit down with us and we all had to go along with it. It happened over and over and over again."

Seccio says Natale wasn’t obsessive. He was protective. He was from that generation that believed in treating a woman well and watching out for her.

"We had a lot in common," says Seccio, who met Natale in 1994 through his daughter Vanessa after he was paroled from a 17-year term for arson and drug trafficking. "My father was in the bartenders’ union when Ralph ran it before he went to jail for 17 years. Ironic, isn’t it? We used to talk about stuff like that and how great it was that we were together, that we found each other. We were very happy."

 

The Gino’s incident was the most visible sign of a growing schism between Natale and Merlino.

A friend of Natale’s, who spoke on condition of anonymity at a recent interview at an Old City coffeeshop, says that as early as 1995 Natale began to suspect that Merlino was running his own unauthorized operations.

"They tried to leave Ralph out," says Natale’s friend. "But he knew. People would drop money or other things off for Joey but Joey wouldn’t be there and Ralph was. So Ralph would say, ‘I’ll hold onto it.’ Then he’d check it out and find money or something from a scheme nobody had told him about. This was about 1995, less than a year in his position, that Natale began to suspect Merlino and his friends were very disloyal. They were cutting him out of deals and going behind his back to make money. Natale was letting them get comfortable and bury themselves."

Merlino’s associates paint a different picture.

A key element of the defense strategy in the federal trial, for which jury selection began Tuesday, is that Natale was a know-nothing.

In interviews with City Paper, Merlino’s associates admit that Merlino was acting without Natale’s consent, but they say Natale was merely a straw man propped up by Merlino. Natale only became boss, they claim, after New York gangsters offered the position to Merlino and he turned it down. "Merlino didn’t want the job because he knew that the FBI would target the boss of a crime family more than any other member‚" they say.

Members of the Merlino faction say they grew increasingly displeased about Natale’s grandiose statements concerning his role in the underworld. "At first Natale had us all fooled. He would huff and puff and walk the walk and say things like, ‘I’m going to get my work clothes. Gonna go to work.’ Work clothes means you’re gonna go kill somebody."

They say that Ralph Natale, who has told the government he was involved in numerous Mafia killings, never murdered a person in his life. One mob source says, "Natale was there when they killed Joey McGreal, the guy who was trying to take over the Bartenders’ Union from Natale. McGreal was shot in the head on Christmas Eve, 1973. Ralph was not the shooter. In fact, he got sick to his stomach and was throwing up all over the place."

And two longtime members of the Philadelphia mob claim that Ralph Natale paid for his membership in the Cosa Nostra. "He bought his bucket [membership] to become a made guy. He paid to get in," they allege.

Natale’s friend disputes all this, saying that not only was Natale aware of what was going on, he was planning on murdering Merlino and his crew. Merlino’s freelancing, according to Natale’s friend, would have given Natale a legit reason to kill him and his associates in the eyes of the New York bosses who were backing Natale. But Natale never got the chance to kill Merlino because he got picked up on a parole violation in June of 1998 and then was charged with dealing crystal meth.

"That’s why Natale became a government witness," says Natale’s friend. "He couldn’t get his revenge any other way. So Ralph had no choice. This was the only way he could get back at them. And notice that it’s only Merlino and his guys that are in jail? There are a lot of people still out on the street that Ralph didn’t give up. They’re all doing illegal things. But Ralph Natale used the government to get Merlino because he couldn’t kill Joey himself. And Ralph left everybody else out there alone."

Not so, say Merlino associates.

"When Ralph got caught dealing drugs he was at the bottom of the well and only one person could throw him a rope. And that person was the government."

Joseph Santaguida, Merlino’s former defense attorney, agrees.

"Ralph Natale is testifying for the government because he doesn’t want to go to jail for the rest of his life," he says. "The government is basing its whole case on Ralph Natale’s testimony and that’s why the defendants will be acquitted."

Marc Neff, Natale’s attorney, said he is "not in a position to get a hold of [Natale] to comment.

"What [Natale] did, or didn’t do on the street, he’ll tell that story on the stand and the jury will decide whether he’s telling the truth or not."

 

And what about the former girlfriend who found herself at the center of controversy in the Philadelphia crime family? Ruthann Seccio says that while Natale was in prison for parole violation, the two talked on the phone every day. Then, one day in the summer of 1999, he told her that he was being moved to a different prison.

"‘I love you. I miss you,’" she remembers him saying. "‘And when I get to the next phone I’ll call.’"

She never heard from him again.

She didn’t know at the time that the reason he was being moved was that he’d decided to turn state’s evidence and needed to be placed in protective custody. In any case, she felt abandoned, left to deal with thousands of dollars in debt and the wrath of Natale’s enemies.

But Seccio believes she’ll talk to Ralph Natale again. And when she does, she’ll ask him a question.

"Ralph was never afraid of anyone. He’ll come back here and when he does, I’ll be the first one knocking on his door to ask him why?"

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Sorry fellas, having trouble with my link

People are always talking how cool Merlino is, yet how much would he have lasted on the street if the feds hadn't picked up Stanfa? I mean, I get it that Stanfa wasn't respected, was inept etc like people say, yet why on earth do they say Merlino was winning the war? What did he ever manage to seriously accomplish during that conflict apart from wounding Stanfa's son and killing Bocchino?

Originally Posted By: TommyGambino
Originally Posted By: FrankMazola
Originally Posted By: TommyGambino

**TommyGambino**
Complete guesswork. You have no idea weather Nicodemo will flip or not.

**FrankMazola**
Yeah.



Isn't that what 50/50 toss up means? rolleyes

**TommyGambino**
No, you have no idea weather it's 50/50, like I said complete guesswork. 50 percent of mobsters don't flip, even on murder charges, so don't try play that hand.

**FrankMazola**
Jesus, what is it with people on here?! I meant nobody knows WHETHER he will rat or not. Hense 50/50, Over here in America that's a figure of speech.




Sorry Tommy, but this has me LMAO right now!

Edit: Still Laughing!

http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philadelphia-boss-john-stanfa

Good article on Stanfa/Merlino War,,,,,but why does everyone assume merlino and them would have lost that war, it seems like both sides took losses, maybe I'm missing something ?

Anyone know anything about this Frank Fiore, and Brad Sirkin? They were mentioned in the article as convicted felons. CHEETAH POMPANO BOOYAH!

It's getting too hot to be hanging at those cigar bars in Boca. Even Crazy Carl has cut back going to the one in Boca. Maybe Cheetah pompano is the way to go

Here's the latest on Fiore,

Three South Florida Residents Charged in Conspiracy to Distribute Illegal Drugs

U.S. Department of Justice Press Release

For Immediate Release
August 19, 2014
United States Attorney
Southern District of Florida

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, David W. Bourne, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of Criminal Investigations, Miami Field Office, and Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), announce that Frank Fiore, 59, of Parkland, Gary Lee Jones, 55, of Boca Raton, and Anthony Carbone, 32, of Deerfield Beach, have been charged with conspiring to possess Alprazolam, a controlled substance, with the intent to distribute it, conspiring to traffic in counterfeit Xanax, distributing Alprazolam, and trafficking in counterfeit Xanax. In addition, Fiore and Carbone have been charged with conspiring to possess anabolic steroids and 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute them, distributing anabolic steroids, and attempting to possess 500 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute it. Jones has also been charged with possession of a firearm after conviction for a felony.



According to the allegations in the complaints and indictment, the defendants initially sold an undercover officer counterfeit Xanax. The tablets contained Alprazolam, which is the active ingredient in Xanax and is a Schedule IV controlled substance. In addition, Jones, who has a prior felony conviction, sold the undercover officer a ROMARM Wassenaar Arrangement Semiautomatic Rifles, a Romanian variant of the AK-47 rifle, for $1,000 cash. Fiore and Carbone then sold a second undercover officer various anabolic steroids. Carbone, with Fiore’s assistance, also attempted to buy a kilogram of cocaine from a second undercover officer. During the course of these drug dealings, Fiore also asked the undercover officer to kill an associate of Fiore’s and to “beat up” another associate.



Evidence at trial established that Burke and Garland created fictitious companies, including Next Level Development, and used an abandoned coin laundry in Delray Beach, to create an empire of fraudulently obtained investment properties. The abandoned coin laundry had a mailbox that served as the official address for the defendants, various fake companies, and other conspirators and fictitious individuals. Trial evidence established that Burke and Garland used fake documents, including false wage and tax documents, and false claims of employment and income, to obtain bank loans for investment properties in low-income neighborhoods. Garland was held out as the “President” of Next Level, and would sell properties to Burke, using his alias, “David Middleton.” The defendants would then enroll the properties in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Section 8 voucher program, and obtain proceeds from HUD and from low-income tenants. The defendants then used false claims of status for Burke and also for the fake name, “David Middleton,” as total and permanent disabled veterans to avoid property taxes on various fraudulently obtained properties. Burke and his fake alias were neither veterans nor disabled. Trial evidence established that the loans and rental proceeds totaled millions of dollars.



If convicted, Fiore faces maximum possible statutory sentences of 40 years in prison for conspiring to possess controlled substances with the intent to distribute them; 40 years in prison for attempting to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it; 20 years in prison for conspiring to traffic in counterfeit Xanax; 20 years in prison for each of the four counts of trafficking in counterfeit Xanax; 10 years in prison for each of the two counts of distributing anabolic steroids; and five years in prison for each of the four counts of distributing Alprazolam.



If convicted, Jones faces maximum possible statutory sentences of 20 years in prison for conspiring to traffic in counterfeit Xanax; 20 years in prison for each of the two counts of trafficking in counterfeit Xanax; 10 years in prison for possession of a firearm after conviction for a felony; five years in prison for conspiring to possess Alprazolam with the intent to distribute it; and five years in prison for each of the three counts of distributing Alprazolam.



If convicted, Carbone faces maximum possible statutory sentences of 40 years in prison for conspiring to possess controlled substances with the intent to distribute them; 40 years in prison for attempting to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it; 20 years in prison for conspiring to traffic in counterfeit Xanax; 20 years in prison for each of the four counts of trafficking in counterfeit Xanax; 10 years in prison for each of the three counts of distributing anabolic steroids; and five years in prison for each of the two counts of distributing Alprazolam.



Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of FDA–Office of Criminal Investigations and PBSO. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Osborne.



An indictment and information is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.



A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls1. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/2 or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov/3.

Frank Fiore and carbon anthony make it part of a family of New York or another?
Or are they independent.

If "JoeSlim" had any illegal dealings with these guys.... He better enjoy his days in the sun because winter may be coming.

And this thread has reached 8 pages.

That's the absolute best way to put it. If he's out, then good for him. But if he's earning, then he's going back to prison one day because that's just the way it is. Time, and time alone, will tell. But whoever posted that Joey and his crew "have fifteen years left in them," or something like that, is only wishing prison on them.

The Feds have a hard-on for Joey Merlino that will never go away because he beat them on the most serious charges twelve or thirteen years ago. They're never going to give him any peace. Ever. And if you don't understand that, then you know nothing about the nature of the government and the gestapo tactics that they're capable of using when it suits them.

So if you know the guy, or you care about the guy, or whatever, then you should hope that he really did give up the life. Because if he didn't, he's going back to prison one day. It's just a matter of time.

And you guys know that I don't even follow Philly. I'm speaking in general terms because I've seen it happen a hundred times in New York. But I honestly believe that Joey Merlino still being in the game is much more important to his online groupies than it is to him. Give the guy a break.

You think no one reads these sites? The more the Feds see a bunch of dopey kids fawning all over this guy, the more they want to put him away. Fact.

Try this place its much better than the Cheetah

http://spearmintrhino.com/west-palm-beach

His lawyers have had to have told him hundreds of times how much the government has not given up on him. I'm sure he's fairly intelligent one way or the other. He's made it this far. His ego can't be so big that he thinks he's invincible but he's probably the ONLY one who knows what his plans/intentions are. Whatever they are though, congregating with 3 known felons while on supervised parole doesn't make him look like he's given it up. But who knows better than him, not me.

Hey Pizzaboy why you act like a prick on here? everything you say has a smartass remark, you dont want to fight on here but yet your throwing shots, and you ll be the first the get the Administrator to get someone kicked off, you BEEFER..
Second, where would you get that my comment of "them having another 15yrs" that i wanna see them go to prison, and STFU with your whole groupie thing, if i do recall were all on a board discussing organized crime, so im sure with the 20'000 comments you have, IT would make you look like a cheerleader or groupie or whatever word you prefer.
Take it easy pal..

What makes you say that? Unless you've been thrown off here before? I mean, do you know me or something?


Right back at ya.

And welcome to the board.

Never been on here before but it seems like you throw shots, fuck it, I'm not here to argue.
Peace

Haha yeah PB is a instigator. Why, because he uses non biased judgement. Never mind me. We ALL have opinions. Getting back to the subject at hand. If Joe has been staying straight he shouldn't have much to worry about but, and this only MY opinion, if someone has something on him that he's never been charged with he might end up in hot water again . Time will tell and nobody can beat father time.

That's all I'm trying to say. If he's out of the life, then he should be okay. Unless someone flips and puts an ancient murder on him. That's a different story all together.

JoeSlim - that was not very nice. He caught you using a somewhat unique phrase and commented on it. What I find strange is that the IP address is the EXACT SAME as that of the other member who used that same expression. The EXACT SAME.

You're here one week, under strange conditions and you break all decorum on the board with flaming a long standing member?? You owe pizzaboy an apology.

That's exactly what I interpreted it to be. It's common sense. If you haven't don't anything wrong, you shouldn't have anything to worry about...unless you did something wrong 15 years ago and now there's more evidence etc.

Just say your sorry joeslim and we can put this all behind us

If I could only pick horses like I pick out retread board members. It's a gift and a curse. I'm Adrian Monk .


That's not necessary. I just don't understand why people come back here with multiple usernames. Some day the psychology is going to catch up with the technology. And it's going to come out that people who have more than one personality online are just as fucking crazy as people who have more than one personality in real life .

You brawl with some farmboys in the parking lot Do you mind telling us what happen?

More on Fiore, Gagliano and Carbone

Federal agents quietly arrested three Florida men on the periphery of the Biogenesis doping scandal, hitting Gary Lee Jones, Frank Fiore and Anthony Carbone with an assortment of felony charges, according to court documents filed in the Southern District of Florida two weeks ago.

In contrast to last week’s splashy arrests of Biogenesis founder Tony Bosch and six of his associates, including Alex Rodriguez’s cousin and former drug supplier, no news conferences accompanied the arrests of Jones, Fiore and Carbone.

Jones, who sold Biogenesis documents to MLB investigators last year, is accused of trying to sell an AK-47 machine gun to an undercover agent from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office in February, according to a criminal complaint filed July 28. The same document, now unsealed, accuses Fiore and Carbone of conspiring to distribute a panoply of illegal drugs, including the hardcore steroids testosterone ethanate, testosterone propionate, and Deca Durabolin, along with cocaine, Xanax, and thousands of Viagra and Cialis pills.

The complaint also describes the men of scheming to distribute counterfeit drugs and currency. Fiore is alleged to have asked an undercover officer to break his brother-in-law’s leg and steal his money and jewelry.

A prosecution notice filed Monday states Fiore shares two corporate bank accounts with Joseph Gagliano, the name of a New Orleans man with reported ties to organized crime.

Fiore’s attorney, Russell Williams, said Fiore once had a legitimate business relationship with Gagliano but that the accounts they co-signed were inactive. (An attorney for Gagliano, who was recently jailed on weapons charges, did not respond to requests for comment.)

Jones became a figure in baseball's latest steroid scandal in April, when investigators from Major League Baseball paid him $125,000 for documents that allegedly linked Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and other MLB players to Biogenesis, the now-defunct anti-aging clinic near Miami. Major League Baseball suspended 14 professional baseball players, including Rodriguez for an entire season, following a lengthy investigation.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami hauled in the seven Biogenesis figures on conspiracy charges last week and is expected to name additional defendants in the near future.

Carbone, who owns a tanning salon in the Miami area, also figured in the Biogenesis case. The salon employed Porter Fischer, the man who removed several boxes of medical records from Bosch’s clinic that would become key to the Biogenesis investigations. The documents then disappeared from Fisher's vehicle on March 24, 2013, during an alleged break-in that occurred while he was parked outside of Carbone’s tanning salon in Boca Raton.


While Reginald St. Fleur was charged with the break-in, St. Fleur's lawyer told the Daily News last December that his client was not guilty, and suggested that Fisher might have staged the break-in after negotiations with MLB officials to sell the documents for $125,000 had broken down several days before.

Fischer denied having helped orchestrate the break-in and claimed it was his intent to deliver the Biogenesis records to a Florida Department of Health official when he stopped by Boca Tanning to try out a new spray-on product.

As the Daily News previously reported, the clinic records had become worthless to Fischer by March 21, 2013, when he received a letter from baseball's lawyers forbidding him from transmitting or destroying the papers because they would be used as evidence in the lawsuit MLB filed against Bosch and several associates the following day in Florida state court.

The News reported last April that the Anthony Carbone and his brother, Peter, contacted MLB officials and players to see if they would be interested in bidding on Biogenesis documents. ESPN reported last year that Peter Carbone had sold Biogenesis documents to Rodriguez's representatives earlier in the year.

The new criminal complaint describes how a cooperating subject helped two criminal investigators from the Food and Drug Administration and narcotics agents from Palm Beach to penetrate a hub of drug dealing and other shady business surrounding Havana Nights Cigar Bar and Lounge in Boca Raton, Florida, a business led by Fiore and Carbone.

The cooperating subject — who faces tax fraud charges in Virginia — met with Fiore to discuss distributing counterfeit pharmaceuticals, Fiore allegedly introduced the cooperating subject to Jones, who soon produced a sample of 20 tablets of what "appeared to be counterfeit Xanax."

All three men are in custody in Florida. Attorneys for Jones and Carbone did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team...0#ixzz3DHmkpCIl

Miklo, I'm not sure about Frank Fiore being connected but this is not his first run in with the feds. Several years ago he was investigated for a credit card/identity theft scam in Boca as well. I don't know if he is related to Nick or Tom who are associated with the Bonanno's. He is facing a ton of time, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Pizzaboy is a tremendous asset to this site, his knowledge of the bronx guys is unparalleled. I agree, a lot of internet kids come on here and wish they can be thrown back to 1958 in east new york brooklyn.
Merlino doesnt need crime, he did 11 years and doesnt want to go back. His name alone will make him money. In fact, the kids that come on this board can probably pay keep him rich if merlino goes into whatever business.
I can imagine merlino charging a g-note to take a picture with him and some of the guys on this board blowing out their credit cards to do it.

Thanks, Belmont. I'm just older than most of you guys. That's all. Intelligence and experience are two entirely different things. I'll be 55 in a few weeks. You pick up a thing or two. It's no biggie. But thanks again, buddy .




I keep picturing those chicks in the more "upscale" strip joints with the 50 inch knockers, and the lonely saps who pay fifty bucks to take a picture of their bald heads in between their boobs.

I really crack myself up sometimes .

55 ??? Your old as shit pal , I've seen dinosaurs younger , I'm only a baby at 40 PB

And you have all your fucking hair, which pisses me off no end. But you're still funny looking. And on top of that, your wife is way too hot for you .

this is all true , I have no defence although the hair is thinning slightly

all of you guys are fucking dinosaurs compared to me

its funny in my mind i kinda just assume that most people on here are closer to my age but it seems there are plenty of old farts around

40 is only young dellacroce , I'm 40 going on 21

You guys aint old yet. You know you are getting old when you have a hard time pissing and then waking up 2-3 times during the night to piss. Have fun with that. That starts in the late 40's by the way.

Those poor Brits, though...even when they have a full head of hair, it always looks thinning.

But they have nice teeth and they tan very well, so they have that going for them.

The teeth part i don't know about!

Thanks for posting my pic, i'm sure everyone will realize that there's exceptions now.

Sorry Camarel, i didn't mean to put you out on Front St like that!...Lol

That happens to all guys as they get older. Their prostate increases in size. Has nothing to do with cancer, its a quality of life issue though.

Hey anyone know who Freddie Champagne is in Florida? Seems to be chums with Merlino as well when seen at the cigar bars.. Seems like a colorful fella.

I will not say a word, you can speak with my lawyer lol
JK

Pizzaboy deserves some points for paying attention to key words people say, good police work

He sniffs em out like a K-9 at the Mexican border!

I give him credit on that one lol

But btw NiceGuy isnt me its my brother, so SC dont kick me off i really enjoy reading on this site.
Thanks

are you also a "stand up guy from chicago" like your jerk off "brother"?

He's a lot younger than me and he basically was of here to bust whomevers balls and get a rise out of them for shits and giggles.
Don't be so sensitive I'm here for a good convo.
Thanks

Well if were talking age I'm 61,and my 2 cents I observe more than I post and you will not find a better poster or person on here than Pizza Boy.

@22 the street boss for pb's fan club

Well bigfella I guess he has a lot of street bosses from what I've seen on here

22, I believe im he oldest person on the board 72. I agree with your assessment of p.b. a class act.

72 my god dust, just joking buddy.

scalish, do you think you will see my age?

I hope so my friend but with the wife and 2 kids I have probably not, again just kidding.

well I certainly hope you do. you will learn much from now till then. remember young man, if you live long enough, you will see everything.

I hear you my friend, Binnie I was just kidding buddy. My Father is 78 and I have nothing but respect for him and all my elder's.

I have been on this board for quite sometime and am not here to start with anyone was just kidding you.

Nice to hear someone call me a young man because I don't feel that young.

I know you were just kidding around, yes, its much more difficult now, than it was in my day to raise a family. your father and I are survivors, please give him my regards as one senior citizen to another.

This is pretty funny

‘Cheating’ boyfriend confronted by 3 girlfriends at airport

http://nypost.com/2014/09/16/cheating-boyfriend-confronted-by-3-girlfriends-at-airport/

Damn Binnie I can double my age and still be 4 years younger than you. Much respect my friend.

Binnie Coll that's cool,I give you credit,72 and hanging tough.

thanks guys.

I will my friend salute.

wow look what i just found...


FLORIDA MOB NEWS AND NOTES
By Scott M. Deitche

Biogenesis and the Mob: One of the biggest steroid scandals in Major League Baseball history blew open last year when the Miami New Times, aided by documents obtained by a whistleblower, revealed that a host of ball players, including Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun and New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, were taking steroids and performance-enhancing drugs prescribed by Biogenesis of America. The clinic in Coral Gables, Florida, became the target of investigations by Major League Baseball and various law enforcement agencies.

The whistleblower had additional documents he was going to bring to the New Times. One afternoon, while transporting the documents, he stopped off at a tanning salon in Boca Raton. While he was inside, the documents were stolen out of his car. They ended up in the hands of Gary Jones, a tanning bed repairman with a checkered past. Jones then brokered a six-figure deal with Major League Baseball for the documents.

In early August 2014, law enforcement officials in South Florida arrested Jones and two other men. One of them was Anthony Carbone, the owner of Boca Tanning Club, the place where Fisher’s documents were stolen. The other was Frank Fiore, the owner of Havana Nights Cigar Bar in Boca Raton. The men were not arrested for any crimes relating to the Biogenesis scandal. Rather, they were arrested on charges of drug possession with intent to distribute. Some of the trio’s activities were described in a Sun-Sentinel article: “The (FBI) agents and the trio exchanged thousands of dollars for thousands of counterfeit pills, officials said. … Eventually, Fiore told agents he could also provide them with different types of steroids, and Jones offered to sell them marijuana, officials said.”

The story takes a stranger turn from there.

Just last week, it was reported that former Philadelphia Mob boss Skinny Joey Merlino, who now lives in Boca Raton, may have violated his probation by meeting with a mobster and two convicted felons over the summer. Merlino supposedly met with the new boss of the Philly Mob, Joey “Chang” Ciancaglini, at Havana Nights Cigar Bar. Joey Chang was there with two other men, one of whom – yep, you guessed it — was Frank Fiore. It’s possible that Merlino and Chang were unwittingly caught up in the surveillance of Fiore for his alleged drug operations.

Regardless, being seen with Joey Chang and Fiore may cause big trouble for Skinny Joey. He is scheduled to return to Philadelphia in early September to answer the parole violation charges.

But Fiore’s underworld ties don’t end there. Before opening Havana Nights Cigar Bar, Fiore owned a business with alleged New Orleans Mob figure Joseph Gagliano. I wrote about Gagliano last month in a Museum blog post titled, “Big Easy Mobster Busted in Assassination Vehicle.” Gagliano’s late father, Fat Frank, was the one-time underboss of the Marcello crime family. Gagliano was arrested in May, along with Dominick Gullo, a former casino officer with ties to Las Vegas. The men were found in a van customized with gun slots and reinforced side panels. Law enforcement officials described it as an “assassination vehicle.”

So, to recap, Frank Fiore was seen meeting with known Philly wiseguys, had business ties with a recently arrested New Orleans crime figure, and is now facing charges for selling drugs with two men tied to the Biogenesis scandal and who were involved in selling stolen medical records to Major League Baseball.

This story is far from over.

they said Joey Chang is new boss, lol.

Scott posts on here all the time regarding tampa's mob history and what not I am sure he just got the cianglini's mixed up he does a great job with the info he gets and then provides to his readers

Get ready fellas, it's coming, new poster in a few days saying Gagliano is the boss with 300 made guys in Nola.....

And good find Stevie, it's actually nice to read something new about New Orleans rather than the old history.

Thats because there is nothing new and only old history

You could not have worded that ANY better my friend

So Joey is due back in court in Philadelphia on October 10th, this will be a media spectacle in philly .

The Philly guys would know this better than me. But does anyone remember that rat who turned out to be a Merlino-Borgesi groupie? Roger Vella?

This mutt killed a guy in his basement with his mother upstairs, got caught for something else, then tried to give everyone up. As it turned out, the guy was some kind or weirdo with a sick man crush on Merlino and Borgesi, so the Feds didn't want to use him as a witness. He did a few years and got relocated anyway.

Can you imagine? He does less than ten years for a murder. I think he admitted to participating in another murder. And a year or so ago I read that they violated him for threatening to beat his girlfriend to death with a hammer (and how fucking dumb is she?). But that's the Government and WITSEC for you .

Anyway, whatever happened to this creepy little bastard? Did he get out yet for the violation?

What's up with Joey if he were a regular guy he'd do 10 days in jail maybe a month but given who he his VOP will send him back at least 6 months ...

He's better off teaming up with Phillip Leonetti and maybe he can put out a book nice book set for Xmas with a bottle of spray on tan that's approved by the BOP

I hope he gave at least one of them an orgasm

The local TV station just had a teaser on about a follow up story their doing on Joey's current situation in South Florida. I didn't hear the time it will be broadcast, but I would assume it would be on the 7pm broadcast on Monday. Here is the link for you Philly guys that might be interested.

http://www.wsvn.com/category/72119/miami-fort-lauderdale-breaking-news

@handsome stevie

I actually posted the story about 3 weeks ago, but good job

What are you talking about?

You know he showed that link that showed where he got this info first before you??? Nice job stevie with the info

No problem, but I posted that story 3 weeks ago, but good job for rediscovering it

NNY78 you posted regarding a news story on Merlino monday at 7:00. Searched for and came up empty. Any updates?

okay congrats on posting it first lol. I didnt see it but hey pat yourself on the back bigfella!!!!

Like I said, no big deal

Itiswhatitis, I was working last night so I didn't see it, maybe one of the other guys down here or who was watching the live stream online caught it and can update us? I tried to find the broadcast on their website this morning but was unable to find a link for Joey's segment, but I'm not the most skilled computer person. My guess is it would be more entertainment than reality with this station's history of sensational Hollywood type reporting but I would like to see it none the less. Some of these numbskull news people down here think Joey is the second coming of Gotti. I'm hoping Julie Brown at the Miami Herald will do a follow up on Joey's latest adventures, she has some excellent sources.

i found it

Retired mob boss “Skinny” Joey Merlino, who served 14 years in prison for racketeering, and a group of investors are set to open a restaurant in the heart of Boca Raton.

The ex-Philadelphia organized crime head, now 52 and a Boca resident since 2012, was the subject of a Miami Herald profile headlined “The Mobster Next Door.” He is scheduled to get off his three-year supervised release next month.

And obviously, Merlino now wants to hit the ground running after swearing off a life of crime because, he said in a recent interview, “too many rats” surround him.

Two real estate sources who asked not to be named told Gossip Extra that Merlino will be heavily involved in a restaurant that’s supposed to open at 39 SE First Ave. by year’s end.

A three-year deal has been inked with the property owner, a company linked to controversial Palm Beach County landowner Jim Batmasian.

Daron Tersakyan, who worked on the contract for Batmasian, said he isn’t familiar with Merlino’s name but confirmed the restaurant will be “a high-end, South Philadelphia-style Italian place.”

Lewis Kasman, who also retired in the Boca area after working for famed New York crime boss John Gotti then turning FBI informant, said he’s heard the buzz about the venture.

“I can’t confirm nor deny that Joey is opening his own place, but I’ve been questioned about it by law enforcement over the past week,” Kasman said.

Because he is a convicted felon, Merlino cannot obtain a liquor license under his own name.

But in his latest interview with a reporter last year, Merlino said he was looking for investment opportunities. Merlino talked to Philly mob writer George Anastasia about opening restaurants, cafes, a Philly cheese steak shop and a cigar bar.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment...l#storylink=cpy

I didn't realize that was the location. It's right off Palmetto, by the Intracoastal. The spot has changed hands a few times over the years. Never a good sign as far as a restaurant location goes. There's a ton of competition over there. It's a gorgeous area, but the inhabitants over there are more likely to eat at Flanigan's. I'm sure that Salvi62 and NNY78 would agree with me there.

It could be moot anyway. Even if they're just breaking his balls, his court ordered appearance in Philly next month is a sure sign that the Feds are going to monitor this guy for the rest of his life. If I was his attorney, I'd advise him not to get involved in such a public venture.

is that in Meisner park?

Kasman's a low life bottom feeding scumbag piece of shit scumbag bottom feeder

Is Merlino really 5 ft. 2? Because I have seen pictures of him with Ligambi and they look the same height. And Ligambi is supposed to be 5 ft. 7.

Right around the block.

nice area, ate there last February...place was pretentous and overrated. ate outside, forget name. the stone crab were delicious

Mizner Park is nice if you're into sitting outside and people watching with an $18 Bloody Mary. And hey, we go ourselves sometimes for Sunday brunch. But there are just too many restaurants and cafes over there. And it's just not the kind of clientele that's likely to me charmed by Joey Merlino and Company. And you know exactly what I mean (not that I blame them anyway).

i know exactly who u mean

That topic get's raised a lot..I'd say yes, he was a jockey back in the day, they're all midgets.

It's little people, Tommy. Midget is a stereotypical and hurtful term.

And you know I'm all about being politically correct. You limey bastard .

I'm only 5'3

I'm only 5'2. Anyone shorter around here?

5'2 is such a great height. I love short women .

What height is everybody?

I'm 6 ft. 2.

carmela, no I don't think their are any midgets in here. moe im 5'10

5'11 and 1/2.

6'1 with my Timberlands (and I owe that to George Costanza).

I had a friend that drove in the limo business for yrs. in Broward and Dade county.He suddenly passed away back in Aug. at the age of 61.Knew him all my life.He would tell me that the restarant ''Mortaranos''in Lauderdale was like in this strip mall and went you went in he said the music was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think.They also had a way of making your food wait forever while the pumped these outrageous pricey drinks down you.I think he also has one at the gambling place,i forget what its called but that's where Anna Nicole Smith died.Just came to me,the Hard Rock

The original Martorano's on Oakland Park is okay. Same crowd as Anthony's Runway 84. Same theme. Same food. Same everything.

PB you know all the S.Florida hot spots,did you and the wife ever think about opening up one.Too much of a hassle,and competition?

I work in metric.

60mph?

5 FT 10, I'm the same exact height as my Dad back to back down to the very exact centimeter

I used to be 6 feet tall now as I am getting older I find myself shrinking. I'm down to 5'10 1/2"

Returned from Nam 46 yrs ago a 19-year-old 5' 10 3/4", 154 lb teenager; same as today with shaved head, more muscle from pumping iron, wearing small bikini Speedos on the beach. Semper Fidelis

Me, too. I was exactly six feet tall. Now I'm about 5'11 and 1/2. I'm sure I'll shrink some more, though.

LOL!

Me,I'm 6-1

The height is good ,graduated HS in 1971 at 188 lbs,now 240

Speaking of Florida I could go for a Bushwacker right about now.

Ok who taught PB how to post attachments?


Groan.

I'm not asking.

What'd I do?

I'm a little teapot, short and stout
Here is my handle (one hand on hip), here is my spout (other arm out straight)
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout
Just tip me over and pour me out!

I'm sorry i had to go there.

I feel ya. I'm 6' and was 155lbs. in high school soaking wet. I weighed 193 at the doctor Tuesday but that was in my boots and everything so I figure 190. That's all you got to look forward to after you graduate it seems and I only graduated in 98!

Good Lord. I had my 20th reunion in 1997 .

Any of you guys in NYC missing any mail. Newman

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nyc-...ficials-n212381

First thing I thought of when that story broke!!!!

Cute. Very cute. Who doesn't love a teapot!

Does ne one know when Joey Court hearing is in philly? Thanks

My father has a place right on the intracostal. My grandparents have a place in Boca as well.

I haven't been down to either since last New Years due to running a business in NY but I need to get down there soon. PB, where exactly are you?

Delray Beach. Just north of Ocean Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue. Next to the Marriott. On and off from January til May. Don't come empty handed.

Very nice and I won't .

PB is dangerous now with the attachments LOL

There are still some that cant see how "saving" themselves- one person- justifies hurting numerous others that are or were friends. even if they r no longer friends, some just don't see the ummm.. nobility if you will, in taking down others.

Your pain and your families doesn't give you the right to destroy numerous other families. Unless, of course, you don't know the meaning of for the greater good.

what the hell? SRY! no idea how this ended up here! I hadnt even been reading this thread! WTH..

Here's what the locals are saying about Joey's latest troubles with the feds on Philly.com's FB page. A lot of people still believe the Philly Mob is good for their neighborhoods

https://www.facebook.com/phillydotcom/posts/10152408707976656

They're clearly his groupies:

U put joey back in south philly and the crime down there will drop by 50% and thes reason i said this is has any1 been in south philly in the past 10 years? Its a war zone between 3 rd and broad streets from ellesworth to oregon...let him back all the property value will go up in south philly!!!!

----------------------------------

Now I believe that the Feds are harassing this guy, but give me a fucking break. Joey Merlino is going to raise property values and lower the crime rate if he moves back to Philly?

No surprise that he'll eventually be going back to prison for doing something as dumb as meeting other people involved or who were involved in OC.

But Merlino is an idiot, and doesn't understand how things work now.

Has real estate skyrocketed down in Boca since Joey's arrival?

If anything it dropped. But we can't blame the Florida real estate bubble on Joey .

so the feds are harassing this arch criminal?

u didn't think george zimmerman was harassing treyvon martin

but the feds are harassing mac.10 attempted murderer in a crowded restaurant

Christ Almighty, Cook. I called his supporters groupies and laughed at their posts on that ridiculous Facebook page, and all you noticed was that I said they're harassing him?

I'm still trying to figure out what George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin have to do with Joey Merlino raising the property values in South Philadelphia.

that ignorant philly facebooker has not been paying attention to the real estate market in the US and philly...people have been moving out of that area for years and the people who own the rowhomes or apartments there need tenants... thus new immigrants or lower income residents move in and crime probably will rise... put joey back in s philly he better be an up n coming donald trump or a dot com zillionaire because those would be the only way to save that area after 50 years of philly govt over taxation and liberal great society programs that destroyed almost every major inner city in the US... no wiseguy is going to alter that

Well put. It's the same way in virtually every urban center that was ever home to Italian Americans. One group of immigrants assimilates and moves out, a different one moves in. Times change, demographics change.

Now I personally think that the "newer" immigrant groups leave something to be desired as human beings. It's their attitude more than anything else. They hate America and they let you know it the second they get here. The old Italians, Jews, Irish, Poles, Germans, and other European immigrants were cut from a different cloth. They embraced and LOVED this country.

That's why, if these newer immigrants never make it out of poverty, I'll have zero sympathy for them.

Its sad that Joey got caught comingling with known felons on the eve of his parole coming to an end. He shoulda known better tho! Feds are out for blood after NOT getting convictions on Uncle joe & George Borgesi.

So very much this...

They don't attempt to learn English and suck their teeth when you tell them you don't speak whatever it is they speak. They can't wait to come here to get away from whatever hell hole they came from so they can deliver their babies in our hospitals and use our tax dollars to pay the bill, but then profess how much they love that hell hole, and refuse to adapt in any way.

Please... if you dont like it here.... go back !

Cookcounty is cooked for sure, well done actually.

The Forest Hills national anthem .

HAHA!

think for his first time they'll reprobate him just so it doesn't stop whatever investigaton there running on him now. give him another 1yr plus squeeze more money out him and make him pay more lawyers. to get your lawyer to fly down florida must cost 5k.

Without blinking an eye.

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when his lawyer walked in to talk to him.

there is probably a lot more to dislike about America now than then (no offense and Canada is no better) although it really begs the question why they bothered to move there. I mean, really, if you're trying to benefit from something you fundamentally disagree with, then you're a hypocrite at best and a moron at worst.

I'm just saying America circa 1900-40' was a very different place than it is now and America's role in the world was virtually nonexistent until after the Second World war. gives people much less cause to dislike you when you have nothing to do with them.

Isn't Joey's hearing tomorrow?

Do anybody know who's in merlino ' s florida crew?

Wasn't joey off supervised release in like March..?

"When you're a dwarf, they could put you on a high mountain, you're still a dwarf."

Sal Avena on Joey Merlino.

Couldnt be said any better than that. So true.

Ditto that.

Merlino's lawyers say enough is enough - stop trying to revoke "Skinny Joey's" probation



JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Monday, October 6, 2014, 6:38 PM
POSTED: Monday, October 6, 2014, 6:27 PM




Lawyers for former Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino said Monday that "the government is out of time" and urged a federal judge to halt prosecutors' efforts to put their client back behind bars for an alleged probation violation three years after his release from prison.

In a filing Monday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, attorneys Edwin J. Jacobs Jr. and Michael F. Myers said the 52-year-old ex-don had faithfully complied with all requirements of his postprison supervision and questioned prosecutors' efforts to incarcerate him just as the probationary term was set to end.

"For the last three years, Joseph has scrupulously abided by the conditions of his supervised release," the lawyers wrote. "Yet, on Sept. 2, 2014, the United States Probation Office obtained a signed violation petition . . . at the eleventh hour, only five days before the expiration of his three year supervised release term."

They argue that because a summons for Merlino to appear in federal court in Philadelphia was not issued until Sept. 16, his probation had ended and he should be free and clear.

The filing came days before Merlino, who now lives in Boca Raton, Fla., is set to return to Philadelphia for a probation revocation hearing.

Last month, his probation officers reported that Merlino violated his release terms in June with a night on the town with one of his former mob captains and two convicted felons.

Authorities in Broward County, Fla., conducted surveillance on what they described a June 18 dinner between Merlino and two ex-cons at an Old World Italian restaurant in a Boca Raton strip mall.

The group later departed for after-dinner drinks in the VIP area of the swank Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge. In attendance, were John Ciancaglini, a mob captain convicted alongside Merlino in 2001; Brad Sirkin, a convicted fraudster and money launderer; and Frank Fiore, the cigar bar's owner who has a record of his own.

In their filings Monday, Merlino's lawyers argued that the former mob boss did not know Ciancaglini was at the bar that night and explained Fiore merely greeted Merlino, as he did with all of his customers.

Merlino's new hearing, scheduled for Friday, comes more than a decade after he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his conviction in a racketeering conspiracy case.

Though he was charged 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, jurors acquitted him of those counts.

Ever since, federal investigators have kept a close watch on his activities.

In late 2011, they sent a wired mob turncoat to secretly record a conversation about the mob with Merlino at a Florida Dunkin' Donuts - an exchange, his lawyers noted Monday, he dutifully reported to his probation officer at the time.

jroebuck@phillynews.com

215-925-2649 @jeremyrroebuck


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201410...GHp9spFbzVl6.99

he knew the g was all over him..if he didn't shame on him, not too smart..he should have stayed under until the clock struck 12…ego is a curse..

I dont kno man the excuse that the owner just greeted him is buyable not knowing Mickey Chang was there happen to be there at da same time I dont kno if I can buy that one.. Ur former Mob Captain I dont kno man..

Even if it was an honest coincidence, he should have turned tail and walked out, then reported it right to his P.O.

There are just too many ways to get violated by accident. You have to be smarter than that.

he may get a two year hit, then the clock starts again when he gets out

Not to break your balls here but it was Johnny Chang he met with, Mikey Chang is dead.

Buddy this is nothing, he will not be reprimanded at all, i think Jacobs is one of the best lawyers at fighting the F.E.Ds in this country. After the Ligambi and Borgesi trial the DA in Philly has lost some credibility, so there gonna need him to do something far worse to get him back in jail. Not only that these cops aint stupid they want him out there so they can surveil whoever he's doing to whatever with n get intel.... jus my 2 piece

Acorse I meant john Sonny L u kno wat I meant!! Correction Johnny Chang!

Joe Slim I agree I dont think hell go bak to prison over this.. But the conditions of his parole r clear and his excuse id fishy if im a judge I dony kno

Like I said, for the FEDS he's better in the street than the joint, when will we find out??

It's also ridiculous to be able to send someone that just did a decade back for talking to someone. Unless they can prove it was about crime its total BS

It is ridiculous, but hardly unprecedented. Everyone from Sonny Franzese to Carmine Tramunti have been sent back up for similar "chance meetings."

I think its the US attorney not the local philly state attorney and the US federal government is hot for this guy even though he does have outstanding attorneys representing him

and PB you are right, he had like a month or less left why chance it

The guys a moron for doing this.

And he'll go back inside for it too.

Latest article from the inquirer

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20141007_Lawyers__Don_t_throw_Joey_Merlino_back_in_jail.html

SINCE HIS RELEASE from federal prison in 2011, Joey Merlino has been working hard, keeping his nose clean and making monthly restitution payments.

He even volunteered with a group that trains teachers who work with children with autism.

But he did not violate his probation.

That's what Merlino's lawyers, Edwin Jacobs Jr. and Michael F. Myers, wrote in a legal memo filed yesterday, claiming that Merlino has "scrupulously abided" by the terms of his supervised release while living in Florida.
Merlino, 52, the former Philadelphia mob boss - who some law-enforcement officials believe still calls the shots - is due in court Friday to answer the government's allegations that he knowingly associated with mobster John Ciancaglini and two guys with fraud convictions at Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge in Boca Raton, Fla.

Jacobs and Myers say that the feds waited too long to notify the court of the allegations, but that Merlino is innocent anyway. They claim that the June run-in with Ciancaglini was a "chance encounter," and that there is no evidence that Merlino knew that the fraudsters were convicted felons.

In addition, they argue, Merlino had "dutifully" reported to his probation officer other interactions he had with felons while on supervised release.

"These are the actions of a man who is looking to start a new life for himself, not a man who is looking to get back into his old one," the defense memo reads.

Merlino's lawyers also sent 13 character-reference letters, including from his wife, his daughter, a former boss - and two priests.

Merlino, who was convicted of racketeering in 2001, is rumored to be looking to open a restaurant in Boca Raton.


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201410...BfqIV3CltOVO.99

That article has a supposed current photo

how the hell do you proclaim you innocence wearing a leather with 2 goons wearing leathers cheesing it up for the camera. its 70tys up here in mass guessing its 80down there. love when priest right letters to the judges wtf. its not some 80ty yr old westside dinosaur. judge is gonna find him responcible and give him another yr supervision.

The last time I saw Joey was about 3 weeks ago at a DD, he had more gray on top, but maybe he added a little color.

if thats a current photo that guy don't age. but why bring your associates to court, think its old photo from couple yrs ago.go with your wife kids momm ect lawyers get the priest.

He's only 52, buddy. I realize that's ancient to you, but you're killing me here. It'll happen to you one day too, you know .

I think that picture is from before he went to prison

Louis Gigante gave Vincent Gigante plenty of character references even though he knew full well he was a murderer; he aided and abetted him as a matter of fact, obstructing justice from taking its course.

So a character reference from a priest doesn't automatically mean he's a saint.

Look at that no good bastard Intintola trying to shag Tony's wife. That's another one...

All 3 rolling round in the same jacket, of dear. isn't Anthony Accardo made?

That's an old picture not a current one , accardo is made now but wasn't wen that photo was taken

Article says it's from today..

[quote=domwoods74]That's an old picture not a current one /quote]

Here is a recent pic of Joey

http://s30.postimg.org/k6fytf281/Joey_Merlino_in_Florida_300x296.png

+1

Think its an old photo as well.



/me chuckles

Beats shagging the alter boys now Moe.

The pic in the article is about 15 old.

Yep, it's an old photo. Been around for many years.

Def an old photo. Always wondered about Accardo. I think he did a few years on a plea deal way back in the Merlino trial days. Heard he's a made guy, but you literally hear nothing about him. He used to run around with a drunken idiot named Steven Sharkey who also fell off the face of the Earth. Who's the guy behind him? Not sure that might actually be Sharkey?

I think the guy behind Accardo is the young Albert Lancellotti. Theres two Albert Lancellottis, father and son, that are both connected. Im pretty sure the older one is either Mike Lancellottis brother or cousin, not sure. And the Albert Lancelotti i think is in the picture is Mikey Lances nephew and Joeys friend. Its definitely an old pic, I have seen it before.

Old pic team vs new pick team....


Old pick team wins!

That's usually the case, Sonny. But don't worry, your day will come .

You guys are a trip. I thought it could be an old one too based on the attire but they said it was recent and we all know the papers never lie!!!!

The older albert is Mikey lance's brother hence why the younger one is his nephew, the older ones connected because of his family but he's not a wise guy like his son and brother.

that's an old photo : ) back in 1992 I think

Sounds right. He looks about thirty there.

Hey, my mom says Im special

What did I say about teaching this guy how to post attachments ^^

Now he's posting selfies.



A thank you.

I dont know who the braud is but I would def throw her a shot or two

there probably be a hit on his day.

Joey can do better than that girl... come on now... Deb looks a lot better than that...

or get indicted for something else

he should call it quits because it's obvious that the feds want him

then again u don't shoot your way to the top and then retire at 52

thats wags wife

JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 8:06 PM
POSTED: Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 6:44 PM


Former Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino insists he has kept out of trouble since he got out of prison and moved to Florida three years ago.

Federal authorities call that story laughable.

The 52-year-old ex-don, they alleged in a court filing Wednesday, began violating the terms of his probation within weeks of his 2011 release - meeting with members of La Cosa Nostra even as he was living in a federal halfway house meant to ease the transition back to postprison life.

What's more, they said, they have the photos to prove it.

The filing came just days before a probation violation hearing in federal court in Philadelphia that could put Merlino back behind bars.

Specifically, prosecutors have alleged that he enjoyed a night on the town in June with one of his former captains, a relative of a Lucchese crime family capo, and another ex-con at a swank Boca Raton cigar bar.

Merlino's lawyers have said their client either did not know those men were at the bar that night or was not aware of their criminal histories. They have criticized federal officials for seeking to revoke their client's probation just days before it was set to end.

In their filing Wednesday, prosecutors stood by their case.

"Merlino was the leader of the Philadelphia family of La Cosa Nostra," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer wrote in Wednesday's filing. "His suggestion that his meetings with convicted felons and LCN members and associates were mere 'chance encounters' is laughable."

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick is set to weigh Merlino's case at a hearing Friday.

For Merlino, who some law enforcement officials still believe is leading the Philadelphia family, it will be his first appearance in a courtroom here since he was sentenced to 14 years in prison on racketeering conspiracy charges in 2001.

jroebuck@phillynews.com

215-925-2649

@jeremyrroebuck


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201410...iLOIMfBI0Fkj.99

he may be heading back to the big house.... last meeting was beyond dumb but if they have one accidental encounter 3 years earlier then this it kind of proves the feds really want to put him away for good

How long could the feds send joey bak to da pen for if he does get sent bak to jail? Or if hes lucky just extend his supervised release. Or let it go completly I gotta say it looks like the feds planned this out throughly if they got pics of him meeting wit associates near his halfway house in 2011 and wait to nearly the end to c him at the cigar bar wit chang and others and still wait till the end wat assholed.. But

Not to say I told you so but I've been saying for years that Merlino was retired.

Anyone still believe joey's pulling the strings?

Yeah i do believe he is running the family, you basically just took one sentence that suited your theory and left out the last part which goes against it. The way I intepreted that is the man is saying Merlino was the head of the family at the time of his conviction and that calling his encounters with members and associates as chance encounters is laughable is that he is still involved with Cosa Nostra and is the boss of his family. Why would he risk meeting with members and associates of Cosa Nostra while on parole if he wasn't involved. But everyone is entitled to there own opinion, time will tell.

agree with you as well, I think the USA guy was saying he is still the man and they are not chance encounters

The second part of the paragraph in NO WAY contradicts the first part.

The second part of the paragraph simply states he had meetings with LCN members with the implication that he is still involved in LCN, not that he's the boss. This obviously doesn't contradict anything as one can be involved without being the boss. And again, LCN involvement is only implied.

'was' is past tense. If the government believed he is still the boss either they would have used different terminology or they've made a clear error.

I don't see how you can read it any other way.

But as you say, time will tell.

Anybody know which Lucchese capo's relative met Merlino?

John Ciancaglini, Brad Sirkin and John Fiore — all convicted felons not sure which is related to the lucchese capo or who he is

Feds: Merlino's claims are 'laughable'
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6ABC Mob boss Joey Merlino is accused of knowingly associating with a mobster and two guys with fraud convictions.
6ABC Mob boss Joey Merlino is accused of knowingly associating with a mobster and two guys with fraud convictions.



JULIE SHAW, Daily News Staff Writer shawj@phillynews.com, 215-854-2592
POSTED: Thursday, October 9, 2014, 3:01 AM


FEDERAL prosecutors yesterday called it "laughable" that Joey Merlino would suggest that his run-in this year with three convicted felons - including a co-defendant in his 2001 racketeering trial - was just a "chance encounter."

Such an idea is "belied by evidence," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer wrote in a court filing.

"Skinny Joey," 52, the former Philly mob boss - or current boss-in-exile, some law-enforcement officials say - is due in federal court in Philly tomorrow to answer the government's allegations that he knowingly associated with mobster John Ciancaglini and two guys with fraud convictions at Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge in Boca Raton, Fla.

The government also says that Merlino, who now lives in Boca Raton, has not fully paid $337,943 in court-ordered restitution and failed to comply with a request for information during a May financial deposition.

Merlino, who served 12 years in prison for his 2001 convictions on racketeering, RICO conspiracy and related charges, was released from federal custody in 2011. He was then serving three years of supervised release, which was due to end Sept. 6.

But on Sept. 2, the U.S. Probation Office filed a petition alleging that Merlino had violated his supervised release by associating with convicted felons and by failing to provide information regarding a business transaction.

On June 18, two Florida detectives saw Merlino in a VIP area of the Havana Nights bar interacting with Ciancaglini and two other convicted felons, Brad Sirkin and Frank Fiori, according to the probation officer's petition. Ciancaglini, a member of Philadelphia's La Cosa Nostra, was convicted alongside Merlino in 2001.

The petition also says that during a May financial deposition, a federal prosecutor asked Merlino about a person named Carmine Gallo, and that Merlino refused to say how he knew Gallo.

Merlino's attorneys, Edwin Jacobs Jr. and Michael F. Myers, wrote in a legal memo filed Monday that Merlino has "scrupulously abided" by the terms of his supervised release while in Florida.

They wrote that the June run-in with Ciancaglini was a "chance encounter," and that there was no evidence that Merlino knew that the fraudsters were convicted felons.



On Twitter: @julieshawphilly

JULIE SHAW
Daily News Staff Writer shawj@phillynews.com, 215-854-2592

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201410...hkLLq2w7awzA.99

The article above says current boss in exile right?? Let's all argue and speculate ....

I mean the other article used the word "was" which is clearly past tense!!! Which is it???????

lol

Is the hearing just with a federal judge and he has the ultimate say after hearing both sides? Depending on if the photos from the 2011 enounter the feds say they have is actually it, then it seems joey is going back to jail, if that is true

If it's written, it must be true!

I can't count how many times this TommyGambino character has pulled this type of shit. Hanging onto every word an article says and if he spots one thing to support his arguments he takes it as the fucking gospel.

I'll go with the one with an Italian last name

Fiore is Italian.

Piccolo Fiore Dove Vai.

Do you remember that song, Carm, or is that before your time?

No, but I like the title.

Ciancaglini is a great surname; very musical. Nice ring to it.

How do people pronounce it? Chan-a-gli-ni?

Chan cal yeenee The "gli" in Italian is like yeel.

I prefer dominic the donkey

Your wife's pet name for you has nothing to to with this thread, Dom.

Ohhhh I know that song! I never knew the title. It's only played at every freaking wedding EVER! Awww my husband always sings this in my ear. lol I had no idea all these years he was calling me his little flower. haha

edit: it's still before my time though, PB. Just so ya know.

Dom, I believe Fiore is related to one of the Bonanno not Luchese Capos, the reporter probably just got the Family wrong in the article.

Yeah, keep telling people you're 28 .

As long as I look 28 that's all that matters. Right PB? RIGHT???!!!

Yeah , r they on about thomas fiore who is in prison ?? He is a bonnano

Right!

You r just jealous PB , because I have a lot of hair on my head

but you still have that face

And wot face is that carm ??

Yes, your point being?

You have a hot wife. That's all that matters.

U talking to me there tommy ??

No Dom, Carmela/

You said you'd go with the one with the Italian last name, no? I was pointing out that Fiore, as well as Ciancaglini is Italian.

I highlighted only Sirkin & Fiore carmela.

I hope your not insinuating I'm the ugly duckling in the relationship PB

Ok

This just in: a guy who claims his mom read the courier post this morning thinks it could have said Merlino MAY be the boss!! You heard it here first..

I will admit I thought Merlino was done when he got out of prison especially with the way things are these days with the Feds making it so hard to earn, hell it seems now if you even talk to someone you get RICO charges.

But with Chang coming down and meeting him it makes you wonder. Of course Merlino will claim chance encounter, they have to claim that. Things could get interesting once all of this is over.

You two read Gangland this morning?

How's that taste?



And if you cant afford the subscription Here's a few excerts:

"Former Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, who has been living in Boca Raton since his release from prison three years ago, was hoping to be working on menus and restaurant décor ..."

"The former celebrity mob boss said recently that he has plans for a restaurant in South Florida..."



Oops.

And that's an end all, be all? What Capeci says is MOB GOSPEL and 100% fact all the time? Did he not just put out an article that says Vic Amuso is still the boss of the Lucchese family? So, is Crea not the boss because Capeci says so? Is he out on the street with the guys in Philadelphia? Does he know who is calling the shots? Because I believe the FBI and Philly PD don't even know the hierarchy, let alone who the official boss is.

Let's wait for Joey to put out a press release announcing that he is still the godfather of the Philadelphia mob. I'll wait.

You think Joey would run to the news and the reporters to tell them he was still the boss? That's laughable. If he is still the boss, this is exactly how he would want it. In question, so nobody can prove anything.

I like how he said "How's that taste"...My answer would be "what do you call nuts on your chin?"..........

Im not saying anyone can prove anything.

Its all speculation.

But if the Gov't AND a respected mob reporter coupled with a little bit o logic and probability all point to one conclusion.

Well, which way would you speculate?



And the article was by Anastasia not Capeci.

Anastasia writes for Gangland now?

Here's another article by Anastasia where he also calls Joey the "former" mob boss. He always calls him that. However, one of the sources he used for that article, says otherwise:

“It was a stupid thing to do,” said another underworld source while discussing the meeting.

The source, who has repeatedly scoffed at Merlino’s claim to have left the mob, added, “These guys can’t help themselves. They are who they are and that’s all they know.”

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/09/joey-merlino-heading-back-to.html

See what I mean? It can go both ways. There is nothing "to taste" until Joey does his press release to announce that he is or isn't the boss of Philly.

Oops.

he guest writes on it sometimes.

Of course I'm not insinuating that, Dom.

I'm flat out saying it .

Geez he said "hows that taste?" Can't we all just get along, or should I post an article where the feds allege he has been in power behind the scenes all this time. Maybe I'll put that excerpt in bold for emphasis and throw in a witty zinger! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!!!

Exactly. It can go either way. The only people who know for sure are Joey himself and the street guys in Philadelphia who are/aren't working for him. The rest is just speculation on everybody's part.

Well I guess we will find out tomorrow morning what, if anything, will happen to Joey.


Finally, Update on "Skinny Joey" Merlino's Fate


Merlino has a big date tomorrow.

Joey Merlino at 10 a.m. tomorrow will be standing before U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick.

The judge "will ultimately decide the short term future of the 52-year-old mobster. Merlino has to respond to a summons alleging he violated the terms of his supervised release by meeting with three convicted felons, including Philadelphia mob capo John Ciancaglini, in Florida on June 18," George Anastasia writes.

Merlino's attorneys said the meeting was nothing more "chance encounter" that was "much less nefarious that the government wants this court to believe."

Federal prosecutors said this argument was "laughable."

As reported in Parole Violation May Send Skinny Joey Back to Prison: Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino is coming back to Philadelphia -- and may even find himself in prison; the irony is that his court-ordered supervision was days away from expiring.



The "former Don" violated the terms of his release in June with a night on the town with John "Johnny Chang" Ciancaglini, a captain convicted with Merlino back in 2001. Also present were Brad Sirkin, a convicted fraudster and money launderer, and Frank Fiore, who has a record of his own and may have been the original target of the law enforcement operation. According to papers filed in a Philadelphia federal court last week, authorities in Broward County, Fla., conducted surveillance on a June 18 dinner at which Merlino joined the trio for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Boca Raton.

The foursome later departed for drinks at the Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge, which Fiore owns. The terms of his probation prohibit Merlino from associating with convicted felons or Cosa Nostra members. Merlino was said to have sworn off the mob before moving to South Florida after his release from federal prison around three years ago.

As BigTrial further notes, Merlino has been cited for two alleged violations; the meeting was one and the other occurred in May, when Merlino refused to answer a prosecutor's question about any financial dealings he may have had with a suspected organized crime figure during a government deposition.

Merlino exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

"Merlino was the leader of the Philadelphia family of the La Cosa Nostra," prosecutors wrote. "His suggestion that his meetings with convicted felons and LCN members and associates were mere 'chance encounters' is laughable, and is belied by the evidence. Equally preposterous is his suggestion that he did not know that he could not associate with the persons with whom he is alleged to have met."

Evidence and photos are available for the government to prove their allegations.

Not quite sure why you're getting sarcastic.

I threw in a line directed at Vegas and Black12221 in response to their sarcastic bitchy lines.

So settle pettle.

Its going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out. More on Fiore and his connection to Bosch and the pill mill drug trade.


EXCLUSIVE — FBI Raids Boca Raton Cigar Bar, Arrests Figures in Alex Rodriguez Scandal!

By Jose Lambiet


BOCA RATON — Two major players in the recent Alex Rodriguez doping scandal and a third man were quietly nabbed by the FBI last week in and around Boca Raton on a litany of charges, Gossip Extra has learned.

The three were accused of peddling bootleg Cialis, Viagra and Xanax as well as steroids and growth hormones, an illegal business conducted out of a fancy cigar bar near Mizner Park.

And one of the suspects, the man who originally approached MLB with proof that New York Yankees slugger was doping, was also accused with trying to sell an AK-47 assault rifle to undercover agents from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s yet another Gossip Extra scoop that the local media didn’t know about: Federal indictments unsealed recently show that Palm Beach County resident Gary Lee Jones, who was paid $125,000 by MLB for documents from the Miami-based Biogenesis rejuvenation clinic showing that Rodriguez, Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun and 12 other players were getting illegal hormone treatment, was arrested in the alleged conspiracy.

Jones allegedly worked with Boca cigar bar owner Frank Fiore and Boca tanning salon owner Anthony Carbone to distribute the counterfeit drugs.

The indictment shows the men used Fiore’s Mizner Park business, Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge, to conduct their illegal business.

The three were nabbed on the same day last week as Biogenesis founder Tony Bosh and seven others, including one of Rodriguez’s cousins, in Miami — but the Boca Raton incident made much less noise.

Read more: http://gossipextra.com/2014/08/12/alex-rodriguez-scandal-biogenesis-arrests-3979/

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2014

Joey's Back In Philadelphia, But For How Long?
By George Anastasia
For Bigtrial.net

Joey Merlino's back in town.

But the one-time South Philadelphia celebrity mob boss hopes he's just passing through.

Merlino has a date at 10 a.m. tomorrow before U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick who will ultimately decide the short term future of the 52-year-old mobster. Merlino has to respond to a summons alleging he violated the terms of his supervised release by meeting with three convicted felons, including Philadelphia mob capo John Ciancaglini, in Florida on June 18.

Merlino's attorneys have called the meeting a "chance encounter" that was "much less nefarious that the government wants this court to believe."

Federal prosecutors have termed the defense argument "laughable."

Surrick will ultimately decide who gets the last laugh.

The hearing tomorrow stems from a violation citation filed on Sept. 2, just five days before Merlino was to complete the three years of supervised release that were part of his sentence following his conviction for racketeering in 2001. Ciancaglini was a co-defendant in that case.

Merlino relocated to Florida after being released from prison in September 2011. He had served nearly 12 years of a 14-year sentence. With the permission of the probation department, he opted to settle in the Boca Raton area rather than return to South Philadelphia.

His presence in South Florida has not gone unnoticed by both the media and law enforcement. But his lawyers, Edwin Jaocbs Jr. and Michael Myers, argued in a motion filed earlier this week that Merlino had been "scrupulously" abiding by the conditions of his probation and reported any encounter he had with a convicted felon.

Under the terms of his probation, Merlino was prohibited from associating with know organized crime figures or convicted felons. If found in violation, he could be sent back to prison, placed on some form of house arrest or have his probation extended.

In their motion, Jacobs and Myers continually referred to Merlino as 'Joseph," as in, "Anxious to leave his past behind, Joseph began carving out a new life for himself in Boca Raton" and "For the last three years, Joseph has scrupulously abided by the conditions of his supervised release." There are at least a dozen references to Merlino in which only his first name is used.

The lawyers also argued that the government's citation was based on faulty allegations. They contended that the summons had not been issued in a timely fashion and that Merlino's actual probation period had expired before he was formally cited.

In a counter-motion filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer, the prosecution said any delay was at the request of Jacobs and that both he and Merlino were properly notified on Sept. 2, five days before Merlino was scheduled to complete his three-year stint of supervised release.

The citation cites two alleged violations.

In May, Merlino refused during a government deposition to reply to a prosecutor's question about any financial dealings he may have had with a suspected organized crime figure. Merlino instead exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to answer. The deposition was part of a civil action brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia to determine Merlino's finances.

In addition to his prison sentence, Merlino was fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $337,943.89 in restitution following his 2001 racketeering conviction. Merlino's sources of income have been a topic of debate in law enforcement and underworld circles since his release three years ago.

He has maintained residences in upscale condos and townhouses in the Boca Raton area, frequents high end restaurants and night spots and is a regular at a popular gym. There are those who believe that despite his denials and his insistence that he has left South Philadelphia and the mob life behind, Merlino continues to have a "piece of the action," and that associates routinely send him or bring him cash.

A second violation, the government alleges, occurred on June 18 when Merlino was spotted in the presence of Ciancaglini and two local men Brad Sirkin and Frank Fiore. All three are convicted felons.

According to the citation filed in federal court, Broward County Sheriff's Department detectives had Merlino under surveillance on the night of June 18 and spotted him meeting with those three individuals in the parking lot of La Villetta, a popular Italian restaurant. The detectives then followed the group of Havana Nights, a cigar bar owned by Fiore.

Two detectives who entered the cigar bar said Merlino was in the VIP section with Ciancaglini and the others, according to court papers.

Merlino's lawyers have argued that the association that night was a "chance encounter." They contend there is no evidence supporting any allegation that Merlino was interacting with the others. Rather, they say, he happened to be at the same place at the same time.

They argued repeatedly that "Joseph" was committed to starting a new life; that he had a job with a marketing and advertising company and that he was doing volunteer work with a drug rehab center and a foundation that provides training and education for those with autism.

They also said that "Joseph" had recently arranged for his wife Deborah Wells-Merlino and their youngest daughter Sophia to relocate from Ocean Township, NJ, to Boca Raton. The couple's older daughter, Sophia, is now attending college.

The move, the lawyers said, was further proof that "Joseph" was attempting to start a new life in Florida. Why else, they argued, would he ask his wife and daughter to uproot themselves and why would he "knowingly risk jeopardizing everything he had spent years working to achieve."

Prosecutors, in their motion, seemed less than convinced that Merlino -- they NEVER referred to him as "Joseph" -- had left the mob life behind.

"Merlino was the leader of the Philadelphia family of the La Cosa Nostra," Troyer wrote in his motion. "His suggestion that his meetings with convicted felons and LCN members and associates were mere 'chance encounters' is laughable, and is belied by the evidence. Equally preposterous is his suggestion that he did not know that he could not associate with the persons with whom he is alleged to have met."

Troyer went on to note that in the 1990s, while on probation in a different case, Merlino was guilty of the same offenses.

"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."

The prosecutor also said the government was prepared to back up its allegations with evidence and photos. He wrote that while in a halfway house in Florida prior to the start of his probation, "Merlino had off-site meetings with convicted felons and known LCN members and associates. Photographs of these meetings have been provided to defense counsel in discovery."

George Anastasia can be reached at George@bigtrial.net

POSTED BY GEORGE ANASTASIA AT 4:53 PM
TRIAL: SKINNY JOEY MERLINO

Read more at http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/10/joeys-back-in-philadelphia-but-for-how.html#ycAzTT6zhihxMZ05.99

Anyone know who the capo is? Also his specific family relation with Sirkin?

Cheers.


Edit: Guessing its not former NJ Luchesse Capo Nicky Jnr

Joey's been a good boy and was even doing volunteer work at a drug rehab. I'm thinking he gets an extension on the supervised release if anything. This sounds to me like sour grapes over Joey beating the murder charges, the feds wanting to make sure they get their restitution money and the feds taking a burn to Joey living the good life down here. By the feds own admission Joey is no longer the Boss. One minute they claim Joey is not the boss then the next imply Joey is still getting envelopes. Say what you will about the Philly Mob but Skinny Joey and Uncle Joe have beat the feds time and time again.

Sounds like your a fan of his, he's a scumbag. Hasn't he been selling coke down there?

haha@How's that taste. That is so lame. Is the kid in high school or something?

Honestly when you put it in perspective it's almost better to cut TommyGambino a break, there is no sense in trying to argue with him. He is just "one of those guys"

Living in the land of tea and crumpets he HAS to go off articles and wording. He also chooses to only go by wording and articles that support what he has said in the past, even if there are articles and/or information that directly contradict it, he "picks and chooses" his sources to support his POV. Like I said "one of those guys"

People didn't believe Joey was the boss when he was in prison either. They never knew Ligambi was only acting for Joey until the Skins tapes came out.

What an earth are you talking about? It was Sonny arguing that Merlino is not boss you spastic, I haven't been involved in this debate, do you have trouble reading?

Tea and crumpets? typical American, you do realize nobody eats crumpets over here, right?

You say I HAVE to go off articles, where exactly are you from? What 'sources' do you have? EXACTLY the same as mine. I see you asking 'Have you got an article to back up that info' to people all the time.

Your one of these guys that pretends to have inside knowledge, which is sad.

It's not Coke, Joey's Marketing job is for Pepsi products.

Well played, sir.

The feds are notorious for waiting until supervised release is almost completed to put you under a microscope and violate you at the end.. It always happens and they enjoy it.

Joey walked into philly fed court 15 minutes ago..
Schrat posting pics on his Twitter account. Will be interesting outcome.

No offense to you at all, but so what? They have a job to do. Just like anyone else. Yeah, it's fucked up the way they do it sometimes but the first priority any criminal should have is to learn how to BEAT the good guys.

He's a fucking dummy and should be locked up for it. Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through to avoid working a real job. He's on par with the typical welfare scammer.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/26753476/mobster-joey-merlino-due-in-federal-court-in-philly

Here's a recent pic, as in from today...

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20141011_Merlino_in_court_for_probation_hearing.html

Thanks Dante,

Well I'm wondering were Joey's lawyer will argue that the hearing should be held since the hearing today is only to decide the venue, Fort Lauderdale or Philly, to argue the alleged violations.

Can't understand people that root for guys like Merlino over the feds.

You do realise he would probably piss in your open sores if he could squeeze some money out of you?

And people who don't like the feds because they act like jerks and sore losers?!

Really. They're competitive. Would you rather the people protecting you be less competitive, motivated, tough and persistent and be more like Rick Moranis?

Those kind of qualities are the first thing I'd look for if I was in charge of selecting new recruits.

Guys like Merlino belong in jail.

Fuck the Feds. Sorry that's just how I feel, for me it's personal because they have touched my life. As far as rooting for Merlino, I'm not personally rooting for anyone. Obviously this guy is a scumbag, that being said fuck the FBI they are a bigger gang than the mob

Former Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino arrived at federal court in Center City this morning for a hearing on whether he violated his probation.

Merlino insists he has kept out of trouble since he got out of prison and moved to Florida three years ago.

But federal authorities call that story laughable.

They allege the 52-year-old ex-don began violating the terms of his probation within weeks of his 2011 release - meeting with members of La Cosa Nostra even as he was living in a federal halfway house meant to ease the transition back to postprison life.

What's more, they said, they have the photos to prove it.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick is slated to hear the case.

For Merlino, who some law enforcement officials still believe is leading the Philadelphia family, the hearing will be his first appearance in a courtroom here since he was sentenced to 14 years in prison on racketeering conspiracy charges in 2001.

On the question if his probation, prosecutors have alleged that he enjoyed a night on the town in June with one of his former captains, a relative of a Lucchese crime family capo, and another ex-con at a swank Boca Raton cigar bar.

Merlino's lawyers have said their client either did not know those men were at the bar that night or was not aware of their criminal histories. They have criticized federal officials for seeking to revoke their client's probation just days before it was set to end.

In a filing Wednesday, prosecutors stood by their case.

"Merlino was the leader of the Philadelphia family of La Cosa Nostra," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer wrote in Wednesday's filing. "His suggestion that his meetings with convicted felons and LCN members and associates were mere 'chance encounters' is laughable."

For Merlino, who some law enforcement officials still believe is leading the Philadelphia family, it will be his first appearance in a courtroom here since he was sentenced to 14 years in prison on racketeering conspiracy charges in 2001.


Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/201410...fL7qb5kgavsq.99


In the last paragraph it says the word IS. I am not a jerk off like the people who asked me how it tasted when it says was, so I will just say maybe don't jump to conclusions.

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

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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"

All kidding aside, I've heard from someone whose opinion I value that this guy has no shame when it comes to taking money off people, and that he has quite a few middle-aged groupies picking up his checks down there.

I agree, the tie was a little too wide too.