This may sound bold but its true. Joey Merlino was not powerful. He controlled nothing really, maybe some shylocking and book making. Scarfo controlled unions, political figures, and made a lot of money in construction PLUS he controlled book making and shylocking. Scarfo, like him or not, was a very powerful man. Merlino was more like a gang leader who was more or less a bunch of neighborhood bullies and not at all powerful outside his small area. I just read a story that talked about Merlino's townhouse in Florida and how they throw late night parties and how someone threw a sofa out of the window. Is that really what a cosa Nostra boss does???? Not really. Yes, he did his time, no doubt. That just means he is a criminal that doesnt rat, not a boss who understands cosa nostra. Merlino and his guys basically ran around south philly acting like a bunch of bullies. In fact, JR. Gotti understood cosa nostra more than Merlino and Gotti JR was also much more powerful. gotti jr also controlled much larger/ sophisticated rackets and involved with a wider array of activities. Opinions?
