One of the prosecutions key witnesses John Rubeo took the stand to testify against Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino during his ongoing racketeering trial.
Rubio was working his way up the ladder in the Genovese crime family before getting busted in 2011 on drug charges. He decided to become an informant and when asked what prompted that decision he said “I didn’t want to go to jail” according to the NY Daily News report. Rubio while on the stand admitted that he became a rat for self-serving purposes while the defense team questioned his credibility by claiming he is just trying to save himself at the expense of their client.
“Joey Merlino”
Merlino’s lawyers have painted a picture of him being nothing more than a man with a gambling problem who only talked to Rubio in an effort to borrow money. They claim that Joey gave up his role as the leader of the Philadelphia Mafia after he was released from federal prison in 2011. He moved to Florida instead of going back to Philadelphia his lawyer said because he wanted to live in peace with his family and leave the mafia for good. But Rubio had a very different story, telling the Manhattan Federal Court that despite his lawyers claims that Merlino was always a major underworld player. He said he met Joey back in 2013 while he was working as a federal informant and that they did a couple of money-making deals together and became friends.
He told the court that some of his underworld contacts told him that the 55-year-old mobster was the boss of the Philadelphia crime family. As an informant, Rubio was recording conversations with alleged mobsters and associates and the gangland gossip also reportedly implicated Merlino as a top organized crime figure. Prosecutors have already played approx 20 of the secret recordings Rubio made. According to the feds, it was Merlino that orchestrated a criminal enterprise that did business from South Florida to Springfield, Mass. They called Joey a fixer in a health care fraud scheme and claim he collected gambling debts for the syndicate that the feds call the East Coast LCN Enterprise. If convicted the alleged Cosa Nostra crime boss is facing an extended stretch behind bars.
So JR puts Merlino at the top of the Philly Mafia which was not unexpected I guess and def is part of the prosecutions plan. I think he has enough in his testimony along with those tapes to put Merlino behind bars, so now we have to wait and see how credible his testimony and evidence is to the jury.
It will be interesting to find out what was said on these tapes because Rubeo himself is not trustworthy but if the tapes are really strong then it will be hard for Jacobs to beat that. However as Geogre A said recently i think its more likley that Merlino will be convicted of the healthcare fraud there is paperwork apparently linking him and a witness who can back up this.
Even with the problems the feds have had with this case I just have a hard time seeing how the odds aren’t stacked against Joey at the moment for at least a partial guilty verdict as u mentioned.
Rubeo is not doing a good job of making himself sound even remotely credible. Sounds like a textbook guy who will do or say anything to stay out of jail.
I think regardless of what the other witnesses have in this trial it may all come down to whether or not the jury believes Rubio. If he comes off to them in this same phony way then Joey may just walk.
Here is more reporting on the merlino trial FBI agent Inzerillo testifies and here is a part of rubeos testimony
https://nypost.com/2018/01/31/fbi-spent-20k-on-fancy-italian-dinner-to-lure-mobsters-into-trap/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=pasteboard_app
FBI spent $25K to lure mobsters into fancy Italian dinner trap
They’d gladly pick up that tab again.
The FBI spent $25,000 to lure 20 wiseguys to a gangland “Last Supper” — complete with a mob turncoat in the role of Judas — and later arrested them all.
FBI Special Agent William Inzerillo revealed the spaghetti setup Wednesday under cross-examination at the racketeering trial of reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, who was among the hoods that stuffed their faces at the “Cosa Nostra Christmas party” in The Bronx.
“We supplied the money. We paid for the party. Over 20 people attended the party, and we paid for all of them,” Inzerillo testified in Manhattan federal court.
Nearly all of the mafiosi who gorged themselves on such house specialties as gnocchi Bolognese and fettuccine matriciana at Pasquale’s Rigoletto on Arthur Avenue later got busted during a massive roundup of 46 mobsters in 2016, a source familiar with the case told The Post.
They included the eatery’s namesake owner, reputed Genovese crime-family capo Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello, Merlino and reputed acting Genovese capo Eugene “Rooster” O’Nofrio.
The Dec. 8, 2014, bash marked the only time the trio — who the feds say were key figures in a massive, multi-crime-family racketeering scheme — were together during the feds’ five-year investigation, according to the Gangland News website.
At one point, they even posed for a snapshot and actually “joked that the photo was going to get them arrested,” the site said.
The gangster gathering was arranged so Manhattan prosecutors would have jurisdiction to charge Merlino, the source familiar with the case said.
In fact, the feds even paid for him to fly up for it from Boca Raton, Fla. Inzerillo testified that the money for the party was given “directly” to mob rat John Rubeo “to give to Parrello,” and Rubeo also handed over FBI cash for Merlino’s airfare.
“We gave [Rubeo] $5,000 for the flight and transportation for [Merlino] and his wife,” he said.
At one point during the questioning, defense lawyer Edwin Jacobs Jr. asked why the feds agreed to underwrite the exorbitant cost of the “Cosa Nostra Christmas party.”
“We didn’t want to pay for it, but that was what [Rubeo] needed,” Inzerillo answered.
Jacobs — who in 2001 helped Merlino beat three murder raps — also asked why taxpayers footed the hefty bill for Merlino to attend.
“He always said he was broke,” Inzerillo said.
Following Inzerillo’s testimony, Rubeo, 42, spent more than six hours spilling his guts on the witness stand.
The jailed former Genovese associate and professional bowler — who wore royal blue prisoner garb and orange, slip-on sneakers — said he turned rat in a bid to avoid life in the slammer for dealing drugs and other crimes.
Prosecutors played nearly 20 secret recordings Rubeo made, including one in which he insisted to a fellow mobster, “Hey, listen. I’m not a scumbag.”
The assertion prompted a derisive snort from Merlino’s wife, Deborah, while a cohort in the gallery repeated Rubeo’s words, and added: “Yeah, right.”
Parrello, 73, pleaded guilty last year to extortion charges and was sentenced to seven years in the slammer — prompting gasps of shock from supporters who packed the courtroom.
Before lowering the boom, Judge Richard Sullivan — who’s presiding over Merlino’s trial — coldly told Parrello he could have opted to go straight following a previous prison stretch.
“There’s a long history of capos who have died in prison,” Sullivan told the aging, half-deaf mobster.
“You must have understood this, you had 88 months to think about it before.”
Charges against O’Nofrio remain pending.
I can’t wait to hear what’s on the Tapes, since it seems it’s hearsay that Merlino is The Boss. Also I thought hearsay evidence isn’t allowed or is other Rat going to back this up. Yet it was nice to know Our Tax Money,$25K, was put to good use incl the $5K to fly Merlino and Wife up from Boca to NYC
FUCK THOSE TAPES !!!!AND FUCK ALL THOSE LYIN ASS PEOPLE !!!THEY SET HIM UP !!THATS WHY ITS GONNA BLOW UP IN THEIR FACE !JOE DIDNT BREAK THE LAW !HE DIDNT DO NOTHIN WRONG !!25 THOUSAND FOR DINNER AND A PLANE RIDE UP!!THANK YOU FOR DINNER AND NIGHT ON THE TOWN !CAN I BE IN CHARGE FOR A LITTLE WHILE??HES GONNA WALK !!!
THIS IS A BIG SHIT SANDWICH THAT THE FEDS AND FALSE WITNESSES PREPARED AND WHEN THIS IS OVER THEY ARE ALL GONNA HAVE TO EAT IT !!THE MORE THE DECK IS STACKED AGAINST THE MAN THE BIGGER THE WIN !AGAINST ALL ODDS !!!NO MATTER WHAT COMES UP !NO MATTER WHAT PHONY PAPERWORK NO MATTER WHAT LYIN WITNESSES !NO MATTER WHAT DOCTORED TAPES …HES GONNA WIN!!HES GONNA WALK !!NOW THERES A MAN WITH A PAIR OF BRASS ONES!!!WHAT BALLS TO SIT AT THAT DEFENSE TABLE ALONE WITH A CASE HE KNOWS AND EVERYONE ELSE KNOWS HE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH !!AND ALL HIS SO CALLED FRIENDS FORSOOK HIM FOR FEAR !!!FORSOOK HIM TO SAVE THEIR OWN ASS FROM SOME MADE UP SOMETHIN THAT AINT EVEN REAL !!!JOE MERLINO GAT BALLS!!!!!
NO MATTER HOW MANY LYIN ASS RAT PAID FED INFORMED WITNESSES COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK!!FIDELITY BRAVERY AND INTEGRITY???MORE LIKE THE MAN SAID …FOREVER BOTHER THE ITALIANS !!!
FUCK DID HE DO ???PASS OUT TURKEYS ON THANKSGIVING???PASS OUT CHRISTMAS PRESENTS ON CHRISTMAS ???THERES A GOOD SOURCE OF INFO FOR U ..JOHN RUBEO A LIAR AND A DRUG DEALER ..AND FBI AGENTS WHO DOCTORED FALSE EVIDENCE AND PROSECUTORS WHO GO ALONG WITH THE LIE !!OTHER LIARS TO COME IN AND BACK UP THEIR LIES !!!IF THIS WAS PINNOCHIO WE COULD BUILD A BRIDGE TO EUROPE!!!