Im sitting here thinking to myself if i was joey what would i do? Here are some options

Wait for Ligambis crew to go down and appoint Mazzone Boss

Start a new crew in Florida

Try and overtake Ligambi and his guys..

Completely get out of the game

Joey should demand a nice amount of money from Ligambi.. Joey was a standup guy and deserves something.. he should get his rackets or businesses back in my opinion. When Ligambi came
back, Joey let him come right back in the middle of things..

Get out of the game. It aint worth the trouble, and I doubt the feds will fuck up a second case against him after the last one blew up in their face.

Joe had money on the street after he went away, he didn't demand anything. He took it back without asking and no one made a peep, joe was willing to do life but got out on a break, he's just as stand up as joey. Joey didn't "let" him do anything, they're lifelong friends and go way back.

Joey didnt let him do anything? Joey is the boss, obv he let him take it bc he turned his back.. Joey was the boss... So if he didnt want him to take it back, he wouldnt be able take it back without a fight.. By joey not saying a peep is basically letting him do what he wants.. Im saying Joey should be able to do the same..

Joey wasn't making much dough off his own operations when he was boss, he squeezed people dry, especially bookies. Ligambi was huge earner back in the scarfo days and was an earner again when he got out. Joey doesn't know to make money but he knows people who do and uses them as his personal atm.

I doubt joey has anything coming to him right now, probably some money to his family, but that's it. There's nothing for ligambi to give back to joey.

If Merlino decides to make a comeback I think the feds would make it impossible for him.

He's got three years supervised release. He can't meet with anyone and no one in philly would be crazy enough to meet him anyway, all the heat it would bring them.

He can get in touch with them, no reason to tempt fate and go back to philly.

The smartest thing would be to cut lose of this. Get away from everybody. Stick with your wife and children. Open a restaurant, do something positive. Forget the mafia.

it's not exactly easy to be a mobster anymore. the FBI is too powerful now

As a matter of fact the FBI has drastically reduced their units who are investigating the mafia. So they are less powerful than they were 10 years ago.

I heard that Joey's wife and kids aren't thrilled about going to Flordia.

As far as what hes going to do...Joey has always been about taking advantage of situations to better himself. I think he lays low and just waits. Eventually, hes back in the Philly area. But I think he waits out his 3 years down there. Maybe if there are indictments after that time...he may make a run in PHilly. Or who knows, maybe he will do well for himself in Florida and stays but I just can't see Joey staying in Florida FOREVER. I already forget what they said hes going to be doing down there at first for work. His lawyer, Jacobs, did a brief interview and said what he would be doing for work but I can't remember.
But Joey and Ligambi are cool and a takeover of any sorts wouldn't happen.

The former "boss" Joey was heard bugging Ron Previte for watches to hock during his "heyday". Thats ridiculous. Says a fair bit about Joey.
Anyway, i would stay the fuck outta Dodge. Um. I mean Philly. Maybe coach baseball. Or was it softball? Whatever.

The problem with a lot of these informants like Previte and Veasey, is they like to downplay everybody. Everybody is a bum to them and nobody can do nothing right. Informants tend to be extremely bitter people. I'm sure many of the things these two said were indeed accurate, but I'd bet Merlino isn't nearly as stupid as these two would have you believe. Don't get me wrong, I think the guy's far from a genius.

Yeah, I hear that. Wiretaps are pretty irrefutable but. Im not saying he's stupid, but saying that the guy had his crack & was'nt really able to have it pan out. His time in the big chair didnt seem to translate to the big dollars. Like an earlier post said, Merlino just squeezed the actual earners when he needed money.

Yep I think, that would be merlinos best move,,,stay in florida and start a new life...I prob wouldn't lave florida to live in that hell hole. Did anyone hear anything about a guy named bill rinick who was apparently boning merlinos wife. Is that true?

He was giving her money, he wasn't fucking her. Billy was a scumbag, I doubt he's ever getting out of prison.

Vinny, Joey aint no dummy, I don't think anyone said that. He's a very sharp guy and understands the politics of LCN as good as any old timer, he grew up in it thanks to his dad and uncle.

To his credit, I'm not his biggest fan, after the shit with stanfa...they were a mess. He and ralph made all their loyalists and brought the structure back. There were earners out there in the 90s and Joey got his taste. Veasey was a scumbag and a lunatic, Stanfa needed a mutt like that because his own guys were too stupid to kill anybody. He barely knows Joey or his guys.

Thats the dynamic that's always kept me interested in that era of the Philly Mob. Technically, after the flashy brutality of Scarfo, Stanfa the 'greaser' from the old country seemed like a stabalizing force, but rather then diversify & move up he "made" guys like Veasey & ex-cop Previte & sunk himself with his own words; of course Merlino's non-recognition of Stanfa contributed, & we all know what happened.

One thing Ive wondered for a bit, possibly forgotten or overlooked, is by who & when Joey was made. Ive always been surprised by how quick to forget his ersatz "making's" the Family was, ie Charging for it. Am i wrong in the recollection of Joey & Ralph "making themselves"? Is that true? How is that recognised?

Stanfa made Joey Merlino (and Mikey Ciancaglini) in '92, things had kind of quited down at that point. But by early '93 the shit hit the fan and they started blasting each other again. Stanfa had business being boss, he was a clown and so were the guys he kept close like tripodi and pagano.

After the war and indictments Joey made Ralph and Ralph made himself boss and Joey became underboss...and ronnie turchi became consigliere. The genovese backed ralph and joey against stanfa and were willing recognize them, so were other families.

I know Joey did his time and was a stand up guy in that way but he was the one who pulled Natale in Originally while they were in jail together. Joey decided to make him the figurehead boss after he made him when Natale already had like "2 strikes" against him. It wasn't a smart move by choosing Natale I think. I guess there would be no one for Joey to get in trouble with but I always thought he should have took more heat once Natale became the first boss to flip. I never heard anyone give him a real hard time about that.

Even so it's not easy. Obviously they can't be involved in the kind of rackets they were doing years ago