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Mob Busters Say Merlino's Running The Philadelphia Show From Florida

Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino insists that he's put the wiseguy life behind him and that he's now concentrating on running his restaurant in Boca Raton (Merlino's), and enjoying his life in the sun.

"People live longer in Florida," he quipped shortly after his release from prison in 2011.

The South Philadelphia mobster was talking about the fine weather and laid back lifestyle he clearly enjoys in southern Florida where he relocated after completing a 14-year prison sentence for racketeering. But the comment brought a smile to those familiar with the fact that Merlino has spent a good part of his life bobbing and weaving in an underworld where mob bosses John Stanfa and Nicodemo Scarfo had both targeted him for death.

Life in the sun has been good, but there are those in law enforcement who believe Skinny Joey is still calling the shots in the City of Brotherly Love. They point out that George Borgesi, a top Merlino lieutenant, has made at least two trips this year to visit his old friend and that Merlino has flown into Philadelphia on several occasions, including a trip in early March to celebrate his birthday and another visit this month to attend the wedding of the daughter of a mob associate.

Merlino turned 54 on March 13.

During his birthday visit, friends took him to a restaurant for dinner and he and his entourage, including several mob associates who were part of his crew back in the day, were later spotted at the Sugar House Casino on Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia. Authorities believe everyone brought Merlino a birthday card and that he used some of the cash in those envelopes at the blackjack tables.

Ironically, he has been on the New Jersey casino exclusion list for years but to date is not barred from any Pennsylvania casino. That may now change. Unlike New Jersey gaming regulators, Pennsylvania authorities appear to take a reactive rather than proactive approach to the exclusion issue.

Only after a so-called "undesirable" is spotted in a casino does the state move to add that person to the list.

"It would be the best thing that could happen to him," said one law enforcement source familiar with Merlino's history of big bets and big losses. In a casino it's usually blackjack. But on the streets, his game of choice is sports. Merlino had a reputation for collecting when he won and walking away from the debt when he lost. In fact, there are those who claim several bookmakers in South Philadelphia have been waiting for years for Merlino to settle up.

More recently, sources say, Merlino did "very well" with the NCAA basketball tournament, riding his hometown favorite Villanova to a series of big payoffs.

Merlino is not talking to the media these days, but those around him say he is happy to be in Florida and off the radar of Philadelphia law enforcement.

"He just wants to be left alone," said one underworld source who knows him.

Meanwhile Borgesi has emerged as a street boss with his fingers in lots of pies.

"All legitimate," those around him say, as you might expect.

Home rehab construction is booming in sections of Philadelphia undergoing gentrification and Borgesi & Company have ties to construction and mortgage refinancing. Law enforcement is tracking the action and has made note of his trips to Florida and Boston where Merlino and company planted a flag in the late 1990s and where several mob associates loyal to the Philadelphia organization are still out and about.

"It's only a matter of time," said one investigator who predicted that the legitimate veneer is a cover. "They are who they are and they do what they have always done."

For now, it's wait and see.

Merlino is still a lightning rod for the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police organized crime units that track his movements whenever he is in town. It's unclear if he gets the same kind of attention in Florida where the living is easy and where the erstwhile mob boss is enjoying the sunshine.

Always an avid sports fan, Merlino spent his teenage years as a jockey, racing thoroughbreds at several Philadelphia area tracks. He would bring up that fact whenever he and friends got into a debate about Philadelphia sports teams, claiming — only half in jest — that he was "the only professional athlete" in the room.

Now he's taken up golf. But he'll never convince anyone that's his profession.