Last week "former" Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino was sentenced to four months in jail following several hours of testimony and debate during a probation violation hearing.
The 52-year-old convicted Mafioso lives in Florida and is to begin serving time in less than one month. Once though, Merlino's supervised release will have ended and he will be free to meet and associate with whomever he chooses, wherever he chooses.
Meeting with three friends for dinner and then a cigar was the cause of all his trouble in the first place.
At the same time, it's not all blue skies for Skinny Joey, who remains a person of interest--the focus of an ongoing investigation by a South Florida organized crime task force, which has kept Merlino squarely in its sights since he moved there.
Although the reasons for the investigation have been kept under wraps, during the hearing a Broward County detective testified that Merlino had shown up in certain surveillance activities, though a prosecution objection allowed the detective to not answer a question regarding what was under investigation.
In May, Merlino invoked his right against self incrimination when questioned at length by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer about his finances. Skinny Joey is living it up in the lap of luxury down in Boca, but how is that possible?
Skinny Joey Merlino
"He reports almost nothing.... a paltry sum," one prosecutor said during the hearing.
A darkly tanned Skinny Joey kept mostly silent during the hearing.
The four month sentence was the culmination of a filing in Philadelphia federal court in early September after authorities in Broward County, Fla., conducted surveillance on a June 18 dinner at which Merlino joined a trio that included Philadelphia mobster John "Johnny Chang" Ciancaglini for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Boca Raton. The foursome later departed for drinks at the Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge, which one of the group owned.
The terms of his probation prohibited 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 reported, "Johnny Chang" and Steve Mazzone are reportedly running the Philadelphia family for Skinny Joey as George Borgesi, consiglieri, seeks to assert his own power. The reported power play between the two groups could result from attempts to fill the apparent void created by the alleged retirement of Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi.
