Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino still considered the boss of the Philadelphia mafia by many including law enforcement is in the final weeks of his four month prison sentence for a parole violation set to be released on May 3rd.
He will have not only finished his current sentence but also be off parole restrictions and unhindered by the government , but will he soon be facing more prison time ? According to Scott Burnstein and the Gangster Report the feds are attempting to build a new RICO case against Merlino and other Philly mafia leaders.
“Joseph Merlino“
According to sources the new case being worked on by the feds could target both Merlino and his right hand man and current acting boss Steven Mazzone among others. The latest indictments could include more charges in the mob hit of Gino DiPietro back on 2012 and possibly other murders dating back to the 1990’s. The feds believe the DiPietro hit was carried out by Anthony Nicodemo and Dominic “Baby Dom” Grande. Nicodemo was fingered as the get away driver and has already plead guilty to taking part in the hit although Grande who feds fingered as shooter has yet to be officially charged.
“Anthony Nicodemo“
The hit was sanctioned at the highest levels of the Philly mob including Joey Merlino according to a source of Burnstein’s. A meeting between Merlino and Nicodemo is believed to have taken place in the weeks leading up to the hit along with a separate meeting between Mazzone, Nicodemo, and Grande confirming the go ahead right before the hit took place. Merlino was back in Philadelphia in November of 2012 for the funeral of his father and former Philly mobster Salvatore “Chuckie” Merlino which was exactly one month before the DiPietro hit.
“Steven Mazzone“
Merlino visited his old neighborhood for a week leading up to the funeral and sources say it was during this time he met with Nicodemo and approved the hit. Then on December 11 the meeting between Mazzone, Grande, and Nicodemo took place at a undisclosed location putting the plan in motion. The hit ended up taking place on a crowded Philly street in broad daylight and may be one of the most poorly planned and executed mafia hit in history. It is believed that DiPietro was killed because he may have had information about the previous mob murder of John “Johnny Gongs” Casasanto back in 2003 in which both Merlino and Nicodemo have long been considered suspects in.
“John Casasanto“
It has been rumored that the feds were keeping tabs on Merlino and his activities in Florida where he has lived since he completed his stretch for a racketeering conviction. Whether or not the feds can actually make their new RICO case is definitely not a certainty as they have whiffed on pending cases such as this before, until the charges are handed down it will remain speculation.
Leave Joey the fuck alone
The feds still have a raging hard on for Merlino and if they have any chance of a conviction i think they take a shot.
I am 99 percent certain that this wont be brought to trial anytime soon. The feds wont risk a embarrasment like last time or the case like joe ligambinis they wont indict joey unless the case is reallly strong i am almost certain joey and steve wont be indicted for a few years at least the feds want joey for life same with steve. This could all be used though the meetings in a massive rico i am sure they are building they i am sure they are building but if anyone thinks joey is going to be indicted in the next couple of years i am certain are wrong unless nicdemo flips but i doubt he will at the moment so i think they are builiding something sure but the feds have being saying for the last ten years that they are going to indict joey i do think joey is going to end up back in the can again the feds hate hoey but it wont be for a few years unless someone high up flips
Wouldn’t shock me at all if they get a case together even a weak one just to take another stab at Merlino who clearly still has that massive fed target on his back.
they could do that but it would be a waste of money as joey i am 100 percent sure would get found not guilty steve mazzone could be in a bit more trouble but i stll dont think he would with a good lawyer be found guilty the FBI need to learn from there mistakes these weak cases dont work ligambini case an example, junior gottis trials another one if i was in charge i would only bring joey to trial if i was sure they would get a convcition but knowing the FBI they probably will indict joey but like i said it would be a mistake joey has the best lawyers
They would probably need someone to flip like Nicodemo to get a strong enough case to convict Merlino again although depending on what they have i wouldn’t be shocked if they tried. The feds these days aren’t as scared to whiff on convictions because at least it shows they are still “hard at work” in the media.
Isn’t it strange that they (Feds) supposedly are following/watching Merlino, but this meeting wasn’t seen/known about til now/recently? I could be wrong, but could this be a smoke screen to see if someone wants to “flip/rat” because they’re afraid they might be ensnared for this murder or anything associated with Merlino?
could be but i doubt it because i think steve mazzone will never flip and the other guy Dominic grande his whole family have been in the mob i doubt he would flip. Now i did notice the FBI i think assume joey gave the go ahead at his father funeral there was no actual knowen meeting between joey and nicdemo it is was sources believe happened now i think there is defently everdince that mazzone met with them both before they did the hit but i dont know what he told them beacause they mucked up so badly its why for ages i did not think it was sanctioned i just cant understand how you can use your own car to the hit then drive home after you did the hit? and its not like nicdemeo is not expercienced in murder he was one of the alleged shooters in johnny gongs hit and suspected in Raymond Marantero hit as well
Salvatore Wayne grande flipped , he was dominic grandes father
in prison and his testominary did little he testified against guys he was dealing with in prison wayne was a nutcase he never testified against mobsters his uncle joe grande is his mentor who is solid
you could say the same for joey merlinio lawernce merlino flipped and Tore Scafid own brother flipped. most of dominic family are connected i just cant see him flipping
Yep def seems on the surface to be a ploy to try and get someone anyone to cooperate. Would think to be able to come after Joey again they would need someone to flip to have a shot at a new conviction.
lets see if a rat emerges here,the hit during the trial was bad timing and i cant believe the way it went down ,pinched 30 min later ,the hardware in the car
i was shocked aswell how it went down its why for awhile i did not think it was sanctioned and it was in the heat of the moment i dont get it nicedemeo is experienced in hits i just cant understand how it got this badly mucked up he used his own car and then drove home i still cant get my head around it i have seem dumb hits but this is the dumbest hit proably in mob history
If a case does get made would think its quite likely a rat somehow comes into play from this event most likely.
Nicodemo plead guilty and will serve 50 years. Therefore, Nicodemo, testifying as a government witness, in a trial of anyone, accused of any crime, associated with the the crime, for which he plead guilty too,it is moot for Nicodemo to cooperate as a government witness.He has no credibility, veracity or incentive to cooperate as a government witness. He knowns how much time he has to serve, he can’t rescind his plea deal and on cross examination he would be destroyed as a credible witness.