Merlino show getting better

Joey's show is getting better. He is getting Pete Rose on as well as Don King. Interesting to say the least.

It has improved, even things like the sound quality has improved. Pete Rose is a natural for the show. I would love to see attorenys Bruce Cutler or Matthew Mari as a guests as well.

I’m never paying for these podcasts but I’ll watch what I can on YouTube. But it did make me laugh him advertising some kind of viagra he can do whatever he wants but mob guys must be rolling laughing seeing him do that ad

This guy is obviously retired. No fuckin way he can be taken seriously or feared on the streets.

He's laughed at. If they're willing to shelve guys over that show Mob Wives, you can bet that they want absolutely nothing to do with Joey Merlino

Merlino goes into Rao’s which is loaded with west side and lucchese guys and no one touches him. All the bullshit circulating that the mob is pissed is a bunch of bogus bullshit…
He is no idiot and I guarantee he has an attorney who makes sure he doesnt put himself or anyone else in jail.

So basically due to the world we live in, and the year it is, the Mob accepts social media and anyone who goes on there as long as its not incriminating any current members who are active?

That is what you are telling me?

Why doesn't anyone get it???? He is done. Mob guys can give 2 shits if he has a podcast or not, he's done. it doesn't affect any of them. The mob is eventually going to become like the KKK where you have a total of 3 members left.
He did 14 stand up years in tough prisons. He smartly realized you can't do anything anymore with everyone wearing wires and camera's all over the place. Guys roll over when looking at 15 minutes in prison, never mind 15 years.. That mob shit is done. It's now such a small scale and risking 10 -20 years of your life for a completely watered down version of an organization that once had enormous power is just absurd.
A guys owes money, gets a beating and the entire attack is on some neighbors ring camera.... really ???? Its done.

So Lenox you are telling me if I start my own racket no one is gonna come after me for a cut of it?

I can finally be a mobster without being made ? My dream has finally come true.

It's not a matter of you starting a racket. its about a guy that did 14 years and then realized he is the last man standing in a life that once was.
Should you go and buy a horse and some cowboy clothes and start robbing trains??? Maybe the Wild West will make a come back..
You can still make some coin doing illegal shit but you will get caught, too much technology and it's way too easy to make legit money these days. Im 100% legit and make more money than most made guys by far and I can sleep at night knowing my children will always have a dad around the house. I dont want some proxy dad walking my daughter down the aisle while I'm locked in a prison cell with some blood member who can barely put a sentence together .,..fuck that noise...
The mob died when Gotti died which coincided with all the technology after the terrorists attack of 911.

Right but however much you say the mob died/is dead, as a matter of fact you are wrong. To this day, hundreds if not 1000+ members still exist in New York and nationwide, whatever your opinion is on their sustainability, which I'm not disagreeing with you on. With that in mind, Merlino is either shelved or he has "walked away" in which case he would still be a made man, just inactive. Whether he is shelved or whether he is inactive, how can you think active guys are not going to care about what he's doing lol.

The mob will always have control in prostitution. Sex makes lots of $$$$$

To do a comparison, Sal Locascio has been in Florida for 10-15 years, I assume he is largely if not completely inactive. If he started a podcast like Merlino has, do you think the Gambinos are gonna do nothing and give him a thumbs up or are they gonna say get that shit off the internet asap...?

Merlino was just on VLADTV and when pressed about mob questions, he says he knows nothing about the mafia. Obviously, not surprising but also kind of funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH6eYd0kqBw

Just put it on.

The gambinos would do absolutely nothing if he talked about sports and stories of when he was a kid.

Possibly, he's also doing rat of the month and talking about his relationship with Nicky Scarfo so it's not just sports and childhood lol

There have always been mobsters who are not made or Mafia affiliated , including every major city in America.

I don't know if you agree, but I thought he was double crossed by the interviewer. He seemed to not be expecting those questions. My thoughts. his credit, he avoided them while keeping his cool. Did you see it like that too?

I think it is great that Merlino has his show, FBI agents and thiner fanboys are tossing fits. They leak info all the time, yet he does a show and they go totally nuts. "He's breaking Omertà!!!!" and "He can't do this!!!!" plus "The other bosses want him dead!"

You guys think he's more stand up then Sonny Franzese ??

No one thinks that. Sonny was a kind, decent man who was taken advantage of by his rat sons when he was 95-years-old. Joey has no excuse

Joey Merlino — You better wake up already!


This entire mess that Joey Merlino is creating (and make no mistake about it fellas, because this IS a mess,) and the resulting negative exposure he’s generating for himself from all the publicity surrounding him is one of the worst things — if not the worst thing — that Merlino could have done (to himself I might add.)

From his ridiculous “The Skinny” podcast starring Joey Merlino, to his latest faux pas of granting an interview to Vlad TV, what does he think he’s accomplishing here? If it weren’t so sad and foolish, it would actually be comical….but its not. It’s just plain stupid!

You know, if he were just some nobody, just some dorky computer nerd sitting at a keyboard in his daddy’s basement getting cheap thrills, that would be one thing...But he’s not.

Because if you believe what local and federal law enforcement authorities have to say about him, he is, or was, the leader of Philadelphia’s Mob…So it begs the question, ”Has Merlino lost all his fucking marbles?”

Regardless of whether Merlino is still involved in organized crime or not is patently immaterial. What the fuck does he REALLY think he is accomplishing with all this nonsense? Does he really believe that he’s “exposing” mob informants for what they are? If so, thats fucking laughable!

Isn’t he sharp enough to know in his heart of hearts that the general public already knows all of this bullshit and really doesn’t give two shits about any of these informants or the guys put in jail by their testimony? Is he REALLY that naive?

I believe that the correct answer to that question is —- no, he isn’t naive. I find that very hard to believe. Joey’s a knockaround guy and he knows better than that…or he should know better than that.

Merlino may not be a book-educated guy. He’s no Rhodes Scholar. But, he has graduated from a thousand schools of hard knocks and he’s a “street guy” through and through. He should know better…and deep down, I think he does.

So, for my money, something else must be going on behind the scenes over here….Because I do not believe Merlino has suddenly turned “public advocate” for the betterment of the wrongly incarcerated or to help “straighten out” the judicial process. WTF, he became a social worker now? LOL. Don’t make me fucking laugh!

There’s gotta be another reason why Merlino is doing all this. Is he broke? Does he need money and so he thinks a podcast is gonna generate the finances he needs? If so, then he’d better think again, and go get himself into a real business that will make some real money for him.

Is he looking for his “15 minutes of fame?” I don’t think so. Joey doesn’t strike me as that type of guy.

Does he REALLY believe that making a fool out of himself on public television and the internet is really going to adversely affect the lives or podcasts of any of these rats? I doubt it. In fact, to the contrary, all Merlino is doing is helping these idiots generate more publicity and views for their podcasts.

If you really hate rats they way you profess you do (and I don’t doubt that he does,) how utterly stupid of him to inadvertently help promote their rat platforms.

I didn’t watch the entire Vlad interview…I didn’t have to. But the part I watched was very embarrassing to say the least. Joey Merlino looked like the preverbal “deer caught in the headlights.”

What was going through this man’s mind at that minute? He had to know he was being set-up and that he was suddenly “on the hot seat” in front of millions of viewers. How embarrassing for him (and for the guys back in Philly.)
—
PS: In closing, let me just say this. I don’t know who’s been pissing in Joey’s ear giving him such bad advice. But he’d better kick them in their ass and chase them ASAP. Because he’s being led astray and he’s not doing himself any favors by pursuing this path he’s on.

My understanding is that Joey’s got some very dear childhood friends back home in Philly. If so, then they better get together and sit him down and knock some sense into this guy’s head, before he puts his foot into his mouth any further than he already has it.

…”The Other Guy”

I always pictured him with a higher pitched voice. I watched that Vlad interview and that's the first time I ever watched him. Good thing his voice is different.

Quote from above:

Regardless of whether Merlino is still involved in organized crime or not is patently immaterial. What the fuck does he REALLY think he is accomplishing with all this nonsense? Does he really believe that he’s “exposing” mob informants for what they are? If so, thats fucking laughable!

Isn’t he sharp enough to know in his heart of hearts that the general public already knows all of this bullshit and really doesn’t give two shits about any of these informants or the guys put in jail by their testimony? Is he REALLY that naive?

People do believe what the rats say, that is why his podcast is a great idea.

Why would a rat who has admitted to murders and laid their life of crime out be less reliable than a guy who cannot talk about anything he's done in the last 30 years? I know you "hate" rats and you're in love with Merlino but I don't agree with your one track mind on this stuff lol, respectfully

Brovelli, he has admitted to things, including gate armored car robbery he did. He has said that almost everything he was convicted or accused of is now legal. As for the rats, he has played a tape of J Rubeo admitting on a show that while working for the FBI he committed more crimes, and made more money, then before he was an informer. He played the recording from Borello's show, JR was saying it in his won words, and Borello laughed along with him, JR admitted home invasions while working for the FBI, among his 15 crimes,


If you watched his podcast, you would know more, such as how in one case Merlino's attorney could not show evidence of a rat doing wring, because according to the judge, "It would make the witness (Rat) look bad" Have you watch the podcast?

I've watched Rubeo's interview with Alite a few times and I've seen most of what Merlino has put on youtube too although not all of it. Dont get me wrong I'm not saying these rats are any saints lol and I have no doubt there are lies or wrong information provided through error plenty of times, we've seen many times them get dates and names etc mixed up. My main point though was that the guy has been boss of a family for 25 years, in my opinion I think he is probably still a member albeit an inactive one (possibly now shelved after this podcast lol) so he has to toe a very tight line on what he can say so anything he says to me is more questionable than what the rats say albeit any and all of it can be up for debate. Rubeo no doubt was by his own admission a bad witness so I'm not disagreeing with you there.

. Agreed. I think this is just who Joey is. I’ve always felt he was a snake and attention whore

(Quote from above)
"People do believe what the rats say, that is why his podcast is a great idea."
-

A great idea for who exactly? It's certainly not "a great idea" for Joey Merlino, thats for shit sure! He absolutely, unequivocally, gains nothing from it, nada! His podcast only serves to pulically platform him in a way that will not be of help to him in the future, nor the present, for that matter.

Its total bullshit....in fact, the entire so-called "anti-rat pushback movement" is total bullshit. As clearly evidenced by the lack of YouTube viewers visiting such shows, which clearly represents the general public's lack of interest in such nonsense. (not to mention the fact that these shows are mind-numbingly boring. That is why they are failing...and will continue to fail.)

I think it's time to stop all the bullshit and just call "a spade a spade!"

Merlino knows a lot of things, but he will never tell, to avoid being labelled as a rat. Since he doesn't want to share any information about the mob, what's the appeal of his podcasts to people interested in the subject? No idea...

I'm interested just by the nature of this being pretty significant with the only "active" made member to speak publicly. He's probably never going to say anything of any real substance but I'll give it a listen now and again in case he slips up lol. Some people are loving on him, in my opinion because they dream of being gangsters and idolize him.

. Honestly I don’t know why some would pick Joey to idolize. I mean two of his “highlights” was getting shot in the ass and that his wife was banging other street guys in full view. Not exactly a great legacy

Stanfa is still alive at 83 now serving at FCI Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania.

Most recent pic of Giovanni.

I don’t know if it’s specific to Joey or if any mobster on the planet started a podcast they would lap it up. No opinion on him from me one way or the other but I do find him funny, got that quick wit you’d expect

I see the word "Idolize" is the key word of the haters. Go ahead, but the Merlino podcast is great. I don't worship anyone, but I love the interviews. I don't know why others like it too, but for me I like seeing the view from the other side,
WHICH WE HAVE NEVER GOTTEN TO HEAR. We hear form rats who work for the government, we hear from reporters and podcasters who get everything they know from prosecutors and rats, but this time we hear the other side, and it reveals plenty.

Why do people hate it? Do you all want to go on through life hearing only one side, or are you on that side yourself. I think many people have swallowed anything the government told them and it's gotten into their heads so strongly they can't deal with the truth.

But Merlino doesn’t actually say anything about the “other side” he belongs to. He doesn’t admit being a mafioso, he doesn’t say what he thinks about the mafia, he doesn’t try to defend their positions and the points his fellow gangsters may or may not have. I agree it would be interesting to actually learn something about the “other side” and its positions. But he doesn’t reveal anything.
That he hates rats and the situations when they tell lies about others, we all get it. But if those rats/informants are lying about their co-defendants, then what would be the true facts instead, according to Merlino? He can’t answer that question and describe the facts though, without risking to be labeled as a rat.

So, you can admire him if you want (that’s your business after all), but you can’t deny that Merlino’s podcasts don’t contribute to our knowledge of the mafia, other than letting us know that he hates informants, which was already clear from the beginning.

To me, any new information or insight into the workings of the mafia and the mentality of the mafiosi by Merlino would be welcome. The problem is, he isn’t going to provide it, because that would make him a “rat”.

Dwalin, you totally missed my points. He gives the side of a defendant up against a prosecution where the judges side with he prosecution (Not allowing tapes non ben introduced by the defendant is an example) He tells how informers lie, ma nd get away with it. He explains how witnesses were coached to lie in testimony.n He shows all off this, and you want him ton say he's in the mafia, nothing more?