Joey Merlino plead guilty to a gambling-related charge back in April after the feds failed to get a conviction in the East Coast LCN Enterprise case.
A hung jury allowed the alleged Philadelphia mafia boss to walk free but as the feds moved for a retrial a plea deal was reached calling for Joey to plead guilty to the lesser charge of using a cell phone to place a bet. Reports that the jury in the first trial was closer to a conviction then they were an acquittal likely played a large part in the flamboyant mobster’s willingness to make a deal. If he went to trial again and was convicted of the various charges that included health care fraud he could have been facing up to 10 years in prison. This is the first time that Merlino has ever plead guilty to any crime but under the circumstances, it certainly seemed like the safer play.
“Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino”
According to the details of his plea deal he was now only facing a maximum sentence of 24 months behind bars. Federal prosecutors wanted him in jail for the whole two years although Merlino’s defense team asked for a lesser sentence and home detention. Prosecutor ended up winning out as Joey Merlino was sentenced today in New York to the maximum 24 months and will surrender to the federal bureau of prisons in 45 days.
The feds highly publicized Cosa Nostra case was plagued by internal problems shortly after the indictments were unsealed forcing prosecutors to negotiate plea deals with the majority of the 46 defendants. Members of multiple New York Mafia families and Merlino from Philly mob family were allegedly running an organized crime enterprise that operated up and down the East Coast.
Will be interesting to see if this has any impact on Merlino’s status within the mafia in Philadelphia. Although there has been some debate as to exactly what his current status within the crime family actually is. Various sources including law enforcement maintain he is still the boss running the family from his new home down in Florida. A recent report based on information from an informant indicated that mobster Michael “Mikey Lance” Lancelotti has taken a prominent role within the family and maybe the current acting or street boss.
So with Joey Merlino sentenced the books are closed on this case now the question is what comes next. This is definitely not the outcome the feds had in mind when this indictment was announced so its clear Merlino will still have a target on his back. With rumors floating around for months now of the feds OC task force trying to build a new case in the City of Brotherly Love Skinny Joey could find himself right back in the middle of the mafia news cycle sooner rather than later.
