Merlino isn't my cup of tea with the way he's handled himself in the past. You can't deny he's a tough SOB, loyal, and smarter then a lot of people give him credit for. His inner circle love him and seem to be loyal to the death. If he can stay away from anymore long prison stints, he will have done real well for himself.
I think that's his biggest advantage: he knows who to trust. His inner circle are loyal to each other in a way that extends beyond omerta, I think. All of them being childhood friends has a lot to do with it, I'm sure. Borgesi, Johnny Chang, Mazzone, Agelina and Nicodemo were all young guys facing life sentences and none of them rolled on each other.
