Certainly not activily running the family over the past decade while he's been in prison. Only Ligambi was in a position to do that. Typically, that would suggest Merlino possibly having the official boss position and Ligambi the acting boss. But there was also that article that claimed Ligambi had the "acting" dropped from his title and was the official boss. But an indictment supersedes that, probably.

It seems the government is even trying to catch up here. And, considering the breakdown of the hierarchy for a small family like Philly, it's probably more grey than black and white. Some overlap in terms of authority and what not. For instance, Merlino wanting a few guys to get made but Ligambi basically saying, "You can make them when you get home."