It was the NBA playoffs in June and the sizzling Miami Heat was on its way to another win at AmericanAirlines Arena. But the real scorcher was the red-hot staredown that turncoat gangster and nightclub heart-throb Chris Paciello was having with Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino. The two tough guys exchanged looks-that-could-kill across their court-side seats.

The eyeball-attack began after Merlino spotted Paciello, who became a government cooperator in 2001, seated near him at the game, according to a reliable Gang Land Florida source. Skinny Joey, the source said, threw Paciello "dirty looks" and wouldn't stop even after "Chris stared right back at Joe."

Like Merlino, the Brooklyn-born Paciello was with a few friends when they locked eyes, said the source. Paciello, 41, whose run as a South Miami Beach impresario was interrupted by a seven year sentence for a 1993 Staten Island robbery-murder, has lived in Miami since his release in 2006. Merlino, 51, has lived in Boca Raton since his prison release in 2011.

After the stare down, with Skinny Joey shaking his head in disgust, continued for a few minutes, Paciello and his entourage walked over to Merlino and his buddies. "Chis put his face right in Joe's, they were almost nose-to-nose," said one source.

Joseph Merlino"That's right, I'm a rat, and I'm here, at the same game as you" said Paciello. "And if you got anything to say, I'll crack you in the fucking head and knock your teeth out," he added, according to Gang Land's source, who spoke only after being assured of anonymity.

Merlino was stunned into silence by Paciello's bravado, the source said, and the South Miami Beach club owner and his group returned to their seats following the brief exchange.

Paciello became a South Beach icon and frequent companion of high-powered women celebrities including Madonna and Ingrid Casares in the early 1990s when he fled New York and opened a nightclub in the wake of a botched home invasion robbery in which a housewife was killed. Casares, his business partner for a while, accompanied Paciello to Florida meetings with acting Colombo boss Alphonse (Allie) Persico, and one he had in Brooklyn with the family underboss Persico was convicted of killing, William (Wild Bill) Cutolo, according to FBI reports.

Madonna, Lourdes and Chris Paciello in John Roca PhotoGang Land was unable to reach Merlino. Skinny Joey, as Gang Land reported in July, is trying to open a business — a restaurant and cigar bar are his top choices and is very conscious of the strict post-prison restrictions that he will be under until next year. So much so, that his meetings with Daniel (Danny Pro) Provenzano regarding a possible movie deal are always attended by lawyers, Merlino told guest columnist George Anastasia.

Paciello did not respond to a message, but Keith Fink, his Los Angeles attorney did. Fink acknowledged that the two men ran into each other at a Miami Heat game "months ago." There was a brief exchange after Merlino initiated the conversation, the lawyer said, but his client never said he was "a rat."

"He's a businessman, not a gangster," said Fink. "He said, 'You're a tough guy?' and Chris said, 'Yeah, I'm a tough guy.' That was it," said Fink. "Chris doesn't know Merlino, or who his friends were, but he knows who he is."

Sofia Vergara in John Roca PhotoMerlino wasn't the only one throwing barbs at Paciello this year. In January, he was blasted as a "dangerous thug" by ex-flame Sofia Vergara after he had a widely reported dustup with the Modern Family bombshell and her fiancé during a wild New Year's Eve brawl at Story, a nightclub he owned at the time.

Sources say that Paciello, a former associate of the Bonanno and Colombo families, according to his own testimony, is friendly with several other former New York-based gangsters who became cooperating witnesses and are currently enjoying their own My Blue Heaven in sunny Florida.

One of them, sources say, is Fabio Bartolotta, the former leader of the violent Queens-based Giannini crew that operated out of the Giannini Caffe in Ridgewood in the 1980s. Bartolotta, who was released from prison in 2004 after spending about nine years behind bars for several murders, served some of his prison term in the same Witness Security Program facility with Paciello.

Fabio BartolottaBartolotta, 40, owns and operates a pizzeria restaurant business in South Florida, and is partners in a second eatery with a brother-in-law, Giuseppe (Joe) Sciulara, a former Bartolotta co-defendant who also cooperated with the feds and is living in the Sunshine State.

Paciello, who also owns pizzeria restaurants in Los Angeles, recently sold his South Beach nightclub Story for a reported $600,000. Sources say he also has a financial interest in a Miami Beach hotel. "He's a businessman and he has several business ventures," said attorney Fink, who declined to elaborate.