Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino the alleged boss of the Philadelphia mafia took on the feds earlier this month and walked away via a hung jury.
The jury could not come to a verdict after approx 30 hours of deliberation but things may have been close enough for the feds to come knocking for a retrial. This episode of Mob Talk featuring Mafia experts George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser takes a look at the outcome of the trial and how it could affect the Philly mafia. The feds case against the flamboyant Cosa Nostra boss had its problems along the way but according to sources, the feds were deadly close to getting a conviction. Some reports had jurors locked into a 10-2 and 11-1 scenario to convict and if things were really that close the feds may be ready for a rematch. Although there also new rumors that Merlino’s lawyers may be negotiating a “possible resolution” of the case with Feds according to a recent report from Mr. Schratwieser. Both sides are due back in court on March 6th to see how this will unfold.
If things go the other way and Joey walks away there seem to be rumors that he could re-emerge on the streets of Philly and take a more active role in the organized crime family. The guys get into this and some other current mafia news from The City of Brotherly Love. The newly formed organized crime unit on the ground in Philly continue their hunt for a new case which has been rumored to include some of the still unsolved mafia murders. No one covers the mafia in Philadelphia like George and Dave and Mob Talk has long been and remains a hit! You can follow Dave here on Twitter as he reports on various news within the city.
Well Well if those Jury #s are correct then Joey is def not even close to being out of the woods yet. Now I wonder if that latest rumors of lawyers trying to get to a possible resolution could mean that Joey is ready to take a plea deal? I mean if he knows the jury was that close to convicting him does he really wanna gamble again that the next jury won’t?
And if somehow he does get off this hook going to back to Philly and getting back into that limelight seems like a very very bad idea even for Joey being Joey.
Exactly! Bottom line was it was a close call. Yes the public is tired of informants who are not compelling on the stand and with such shady behavior but the numbers don’t lie. Too soon to tell I guess but laying as low as possible seems to be the prudent move here. Not an expert on Philly by any means but Merlino apparently just doesn’t give a shit seems like. Could go any way in the future.
agreed if that is true they were that close to convicting then they probably will retry him i actually think he will take the plea this time hes not an idiot if it was that close depending on what they offer him a plea is probably the best option i think he would take a year inside but who knows if they do retry maybe he will decide to go back to trial but as dave and geogre A were saying the case they are building in SP is the one that merlino and alot of these guys would be the most concerned about
I still expect him to go back to Florida once this is all over he seems to have had an working situation for a few years now i would be surprised but not shocked if he went back to SP and started asserting himself your right john it is not a good idea for anyone involved hes not exactly liked by everyone and the feds would be all over him that attract attention to not just him but all those guys but he loves the life merlino so maybe he will it is going to be interesting whatever happens
If they offer him a plea deal anywhere in the realm of reasonable I think he def has to strongly consider taking it (probably should take it) if those jury #s are right because that is cutting it way way to close. Esp for the extended amount of years he is looking at on the back end of a guilty verdict.
Here lies the problem,you’re always gonna have some do- gooders on the jury who want to lean towards the government and convict no matter how weak the evidence, especially with the “mob boss” assertion as in this case. Then you got a “stealth” juror like that Sylvia bitch who snuck on there just to convict his ass which was completely obvious. She just loved talking to reporters at every opportunity. You also got the government with unlimited funds- if you keep throwing shit at the wall something will eventually stick! It’s all stacked in governments favor. It’s hard to beat them even in a bullshit case like this!
A whole lotta very good points there.
Seems he knows he’s on borrowed time. Maybe he wants to go out with a bang.
Maybe a nice plea offer isn’t looking as bad as it once did, if the feds would even offer it now.
This case is such a joke the government clearly got a hard on 4 joey after he embarassed them in 01’ no solid evidence in this case
Oh no doubt about their hard on for the guy and its prob enough to them to push for a retrial and take another shot no matter how much tax payers money it costs.
Joey merlino is not scared of the Life he chose..He saw his Father Salvatore chucky Merlino Live The Life and die Locked up…So I respect his balls …He stood up to Stanfa and Won …Joey Stood up to Nicky Scarfo JR..and kicked his ass out of Philly after Nicky JR.. Holloween dinner At Dante Luigi restaurant…So Joe is not gonna ever stop being South Philly Mobster…and he knows what that choice can mean — life in prison or the barrel of a gun…I would hope he has more years left on the streets ..but if he goes away for 10 years he will come right back to the Life again in his 60s …Bouno Fortuna skinny joey …and miss Your fathers day at 3M Bar in south philly.
Did you hang out at the 3M bar?
Late 1970s to early 1980s my father was a connected politician who was friends and bussiness and had bussiness with them
I know this is off topic but what do you folks think of the Cosa Nostra, Camorra, Ndrangheta, and Sacra Corona Unita presence in America? I mean, to be the multi-billion dollar enterprises the Italian government claims they are surely they must have something going on over here.
They do lots of business with the gambinos franky boy cali leads the network of shit commin over 2 the u.s. the mafia back in Italy had lots of connections hear in america check out operation old bridge
At least a few of the NY families have strong ties to Cosa Nostra and the Ndrangheta many of which are likely based in the drug trade. Plus both those 2 organizations and the Camorra have ties to lot of other countries like Canada, Australia, a lot of business in Europe. They could easily be multi-billion dollar money makers without the US but they are certainly involved here in various ways as well.
You forgot “Stidda”. A real small group based in Sicily. “Ndrangheta” and “Cosa Nostra” with “Ndrangheta” being more powerful. Let’s see if Leonardo Rizzuto can pick back up in Montreal, Canada. Joey Merlino will get through the retrial.
Yeah. Have any of you seen that television series Gangland based on American street gangs? Imagine if they did a separate episode on each of the Italian Mafia groups I mentioned. Imagine how chicken shit they’d make our street gangs and even the American Mafia look? I love the way they presented that show I just think they could bring it back and focus on organized crime groups.
The show was half way decent in the beginning but it turned into the usual Fluff pieces with a bunch of crappy recycled footage. I realize they can only go into so much detail but that show is full of incorrect information especially when referring to gang numbers etc.. Example is when they talk about the Aryan Brotherhood they claim it has thousands of members. Totally false. There is the California AB and The Federal System AB. Yes many other states have versions or other White Prison Gangs all together but they are not the AB. It is a very small organization and is not directly connected to those other groups. The show does the same generalizations with other gangs as well to make them look like Super Gangs. Bullshit. Same with the MS-13 hype. A bunch of separate ragtag cliques who are not part of a sophisticated network. Viscous psychopaths YES but Supergang NO!!!
Sorry for the tirade haha. There is just so much false reporting on gangs. Even National Geographic produces crap like that now. They used to be a standard for journalism. I have to find obscure documentary’s usually from other countries to find and new info or at least footage.
No problem you made a lot of great points. There’s actually a lot of interesting news that comes out on the Italian Mafia but it’s all in Italian and the Google translator does a sorry ass job at translating it to English making it painful to try to read. About the only time they make the English news is when they do something really drastic like feeding that mobster alive to pigs or when a fugitive has been caught after decades on the run. We hear so much about the Mexican drug cartels making it seem like they’re so much bigger and badder than the Italian Mafia but that’s because Mexico is just right across the border vs Italy on the other side of the world. Not to mention the breathtaking violence over there. Another thing that should be noted is that while the drug cartels are far more ruthless you have to realise that they go around slaughtering scores of innocent people for the fuck of it so of course you’re gonna have a higher body count when you kill indiscriminately vs targeting just certain people.
Exactly! That shit in Mexico is pure cowardly barbarism at its finest. Line a bunch of elderly farmers and females and saw their heads off? Even the Asian Mobs who are known to kill innocents on occasion do it just to make a point for others to leave them alone. I in no way condone that of course but there is an objective to it. The shear volume of predatory murders carried out against the non gangster population in Mexico is an embarrassment to the state. People can say the original Los Zetas were trained here in America and that may be true but what’s that got to do with the Mexican Government allowing them to run amok. If you have not seen Cartel Land check it out. Great documentary but fairly sad ending. Don’t wanna spoil it for those who haven’t seen it. On another topic I watched a documentary about the LA Riots in 1992. The footage of the Korean merchants arming up and defending what they worked for made me feel good all over. And they were called the criminals in the end!!
The AB have only 100 or 200 official members, but they control all the other whiteboy prison gangs who do their dirty work for them. Pretty impressive how they continue to run shit even tho all the top leaders are in 23 hour lockdown in Supermax. They make millions in the prison drug trade behind bars! The MS-13 cliques do report back to the leaders in El Salvador. I don’t know what you heard. They got crazy numbers! Like 50,000 or some shit . US gov ain’t never shutting them down either.
I totally agree with you on the AB info. They remain top of the pecking order even being in the SHU Pelican Bay or ADX Florence. Their loose alliance with La Eme has always bolstered their power in a riot situation. My point was these silly shows make erroneous statements as if they’re all one big AB gang. As we stated the actual AB is a small and exclusive group. Just cuz some gang of Woods in another state uses the name does not make them the real thing. Thing about MS-13 is sure they report back to El Salvador and what not. They are absolute savages as individual cliques but they are not a super sophisticated transnational crime syndicate as the Feds love to portray. There are definitely far more highly structured and more sophisticated gangs then they are. They still have to fly under The Mexican Mafia banner at least in California. I wouldn’t want to be on their hitlist but there are far more pressing criminal threats in the USA other then MS-13!!! The have always been totally overhyped as this threat to national security which is pure nonsense. In the California State Penal system La Eme is still at the top of the food chain. I cannot comment on the Federal System as its a much more diverse group of various gangs from all over the country.
I’m frankly bored with all the Merlino news. Its been decent subject matter but The Philly Family is just not that big a deal anymore. At the risk of pissing anyone off here I’d like to reiterate my opinion that The Chicago Outfit in its heyday under Accardo and Rica was the single most powerful Mob family in the US anyway. That lame deal they sold to the NYC Families to basically let Chicago have most of Vegas and NYC could have the upcoming Atlantic City all to themselves was a clever deal. Vegas was a cashcow and AC a dump. Of course NY had their share of Vegas but all chopped up between different families. The Outfit had singular control of several casinos all to themselves. I can’t understand why NY guys ever agreed to such a shitty deal or maybe they didn’t have the power to say no. The Outfit was big back then but still smaller than any NY Families numbers wise. Chicago did enjoy a huge amount of Political Corruption and control over local government. They also had in theory the back up of every other smaller Midwest or West Coast Families. Detroit probably being the only Family not under The Outfits thumb. They were not at all traditional La Cosa Nostra. One of the only examples of being an Americanized Crime Family where that actually helped their business. Anyway just looking to stir up a little shit here haha or just some lively debate. I’m over Merlino!
I think we will be seeing more news out of Chicago sooner rather than later. Seems pretty clear the new fed team there is back on the hunt and both DeLaurentis and Vena are in the cross hairs. Wouldn’t be shocked at all to see a major indictment drop this year involves those guys and others in the Outfit.
Yea that one hard-on US Attorney was posturing a few weeks ago so I would agree that they probably have something cooking for those guys.