According to a recent report alleged Philadelphia mafia boss, Joseph Merlino filed court papers on Monday seeking a dismissal of all charges against him.
Merlino wants an NYC Judge to dismiss the federal charges against him from the crumbling East Coast LCN Enterprise racketeering case. Joey has been playing hardball with the feds after details of an internal probe into potential misconduct by federal agents associated with the case was announced. Much of the evidence collected against the alleged Cosa Nostra boss by a cooperating witness may have been compromised due to the actions of the agents in question. Merlino turned down a plea offer from the feds which would have allowed him to plead guilty to lesser charges and spend less than 2 years behind bars according to sources familiar with the ongoing mafia case.
“Joey Merlino”
The flamboyant Merlino has never pleaded guilty to anything and has maintained that he didn’t plan to start now. This motion to dismiss all charges may really push the feds into a corner forcing them to make a difficult decision perhaps sooner than they planned to. What was first described as a major blow against the mafia has quickly become nothing of the sort with everyone except for Merlino agreeing to very lenient plea deals. The question is how confident are the feds in their case against Merlino considering all the recent developments and do they really want to take it to trial. There is no doubt that Merlino was one of the more high-profile organized crime figures associated with this case and if he were to walk away scot-free it would be a huge black eye.
Word is that the defense team has also filed a motion to have the trial moved to Philadelphia if it, in fact, takes place. The judge has ordered a hearing for June 30th to consider both motions along with other aspects of the case.
Wow looks like Joey and company are really looking to push the feds hand! Have to imagine his defense team are fairly certain from what they have seen that he will walk away here and the feds case has really fallen to pieces. Can you imagine how pissed the feds are gonna be behind the scene’s if they drop all charges at this hearing.
Love him or hate him but the BALLS on that guy haha… I agree that his lawyers are probably pretty well dialed in to make a move like this. I doubt they would act that brashly if they weren’t confident they would be able to pull it off. If they get the Feds to straight up drop the charges against Merlino that would be one sweet victory for him and a huge smack in the mouth for the Prosecution!!! It will be interesting to see how quickly this one plays out.
Agreed they have to be pretty damn confident to make this kind of move and it seems more and more likely that he walks away clean.
Yup I just cannot see them making that type of bold statement if they didnt feel like they had it pretty much locked up. Even as arrogant as he is that would be a ridiculous move without knowing beforehand that it was a done deal. Like the others on here have said though, maybe another indictment coming his way so guess he’ll enjoy his freedom and make the most of it while he can. I was never a big fan of reading about Philly in the past but I will say they are keeping things interesting these days. Entertaining from a spectator point of view anyway lol…
Actually, asking the court to dismiss charges before heading into trial is not flagrant, bold, or unusual. This is a common practice of setting grounds for an appeal in case the defendant is convicted at trial.
the feds will come back at merlino a couple years later! just wait and see! obviously joey still thinks this is 1991!
Negativity how is that equality for all ??That reminds me of some of the negativity that they were posting on the site that was shut down .Incessant or inane boring or not No weapon that is formed against the man will prosper !Not now not ever !
Psalms 91 to God be the Glory!Now and forever !
for the feds to offer 2 years to a convicted mob felon its obvious thier evidence was botched. so in essence they really know they have no case! and joey merlinos lawyer knows this! hell walk!!! just wait and see!
Joey will be playing softball with the Philly crew from new clubhouse. Near Catherine st…as soon as case dismissed…Joey probably will facing charges from Feds in Philly but Joey could have nice stretch of no ankle bracelet or restrictions for rest of the summer hanging out Jersey shore and Boca Raton…..joey is a survivor and will never cave in….
Right that indictment in Philly may eventually come around and get him but who knows how long down road and if it even ever comes together. He has to be feeling pretty good about things if he can walk away clean here.
LoL, I think joey is way past his softball years. But if he don’t beat this case , he will be fine. Joey does his time like a man. Not like Jon Jon, who got Billy killed because hes a big fat RAT !!! A lot of those guys would be out a long time ago if they talked, but they are doing 80 to life instead. At least they can look in the mirror and NOT see the RAT starring back at them !!
John John is scumbag garbage…..Frank Martines and many of Stanfa crew like frank stand up guys absolutely
I really think Joey is gonna beat this, but as we all know the word is that the fbi is building an even bigger case in Philly. Im hearing this next hit is meant to wipe out all of Phillys hierachy. This first case Joey wasnt even the target just got caught up in it. Well just have to wait and see.
And again the common theme here is the Feds being so desperate to go after certain guys that they have a hard on for that they are willing to use poorly vetted informants who can’t be trusted and end up not appearing sympathetic to jurors. If the Feds would just calm the fuck down and go back to their more conservative approach in making rock solid cases they might salvage their reputation. It’s way bigger then just these Mob cases also. With the Freedom Of Information Act so much evidence of their shady behavior over the years has come out publicly. All their various programs such as COINTELPRO , Top Echelon Program, Scarpa, Bulger, Flemmi and the list goes on. The tactics they used against certain Civil Rights Activists! I mean guys like MLK not scumbag gangsters Like Huey Newton. The more this stuff comes out publicly the less credibility the FBI has with the general public and especially with homegrown Terrorists running amok here and in Europe. I’d say the average American cares a whole lot more about those maniacs being rounded up then some wiseguy and his gambling operation. I dont mean to minimize the bad behavior of some of these Mobsters but bottom line is they dont pose a threat to National Security and there are very real groups right now that absolutely do. Excuse my tangent haha. Just got on a roll there.
The charges will be dismissed and the man will walk .
It’s for the innocent not the murderers ! Fuggettaboutit!!!!