Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino the former boss of the Philadelphia mafia is set to come off of supervised probation in a matter of days but the feds are trying to change that. Merlino could be heading back to prison for violating the terms of his supervised release back in June of this year. He is prohibited from associating with organized crime figures or any convicted felons. But on June 18 the feds conducted surveillance of Merlino meeting with ex-cons down in Boca Raton.
He met with Philly mafia captain John Ciancaglini and two other men identified as Brad Sirkin and Frank Fiore both also with criminal records. The foursome had dinner at an Italian restaurant and then had drinks in the Havana Nights Cigar Bar & Lounge VIP area according to court documents. It is still unclear as to why the feds were doing surveillance on Merlino or the late-night meeting.
Authorities also claim Merlino also committed another parole violation back in May when he refused to answer some questions about one of his business transactions asked by his supervision monitors. The former mafia boss has sworn off the mob life since getting out of prison. Many believe he could still be the head of the mob in Philly calling the shots from Florida with his old crew controlling things on the streets back home.
Many wondered if he would make a return to Philadelphia once his supervised probation has ended and take back control of the La Cosa Nostra family hands-on. But rumors are that Joey has plans to open up a high-end Italian restaurant down in Boca and go straight making it possibly his permanent home. If the feds can make these probation violations stick his plans whatever they were would be changing.
