Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino the former and possibly current boss of the Philadelphia Mafia returned to Philly recently for a probation revocation hearing leaving many wondering what is Joey’s current status when comes to La Cosa Nostra in Philly. Since his release from prison Joey has been seemingly living the good life down in Boca Raton, Florida and when asked has maintained that he has given up on the mob and is out. But many people from law enforcement to mob buffs find it hard to believe that Joey no longer has a hand in things.
“Joey Merlino”
From this recent hearing we know the feds have been keeping a close eye on Merlino since his release and claim he met with fellow Philly mobsters and other criminals in a violation of his probation down in Florida. Many believe this is yet another sign that Joey is still the current boss of the Philly mafia running things through his close associate and current acting boss Steve Mazzone. He took over as acting boss following the indictments of former boss Joseph Ligambi and most of his administration many of which were convicted.
“Steven Mazzone”
But the John Gotti of Passyunk Avenue says after doing 14 years behind bars and now on other side of 50 says he has no desire to go back. He and his lawyer say he has a fresh start down in Florida and although he misses his family has no plans to return to Philly. It seems like he is on the verge of opening up a restaurant down in Boca with some investors if he beats the parole revocation case back in Philly.
“Upcoming Merlino Restaurant in Boca”
A secretly taped conversation the feds have from back in 2010 between Joseph Ligambi , Philly mob capo Joseph “Scoops” Licata, and others in which Joey is possibly mentioned as still being the actual boss of the mafia in Philadelphia is another smoking gun for many. Many believe including some in law enforcement that Ligambi was simply handing day to day operations acting as boss for Merlino while he was away. So what do you think is Joey Merlino still the boss of the Philly mob ?
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This is really a hard one its impossible to know if he still is involved. To be honest i don’t think it would be the best idea for him to go back. When he was in charge in the 90s the mob he was the strongest mobster but now its not the case the Scarfo era mobsters are very ruthless would probably not be happy with him taking too much of the pie. Also the mob is very different to when he went to prison. Joe Ligambi managed to reorganize the family into a calm system and now its a very different Philly mafia to the Philly mafia he once led
I think if he is smart and now an old soul he should def stay out. Now he was always a known as pretty much a 24/7 gangster so maybe he can’t step away from the life that easily. And your right things are def different now in Philly. But he does have a couple guys in place there to be able to run things at least some what for a while from Fla, now how long that could even last is very much debatable as well. So hard to know for sure and maybe only a little more time will tell.
Feds sure seem to be keeping a close eye on him down in Fla it seems. Maybe they believe as many others do that Joey is still involved in the Philly mob in some way.