Merlino Trial thread

[Rocco]

Very true. 2 of the 3 black eyes I've had in my life came from a 95lb Asian girl.

I don't doubt that one bit. Asian broads can be pretty fuckin cold!

[Rocco]

I never fucked an Asian...I was into Russians and Cubans

Russian broads are tough and will play you like a fiddle if you let them.

[Rocco]

I just read in the NY post that the defense rests.

[NJShore4Life]

Deb is 49 years old, hasn’t hit her 50s yet.....

[SonnyBlackstein]

I just read in the NY post that the defense rests.

Where the hell are Schratweiser and Anastasia?

It’s the trial of the century for Philly and their two ‘mob reporters’ are MIA.

They should’ve been covering this play by play.

Makes zero sense to me.

[Rocco]

I just read in the NY post that the defense rests.

Where the hell are Schratweiser and Anastasia?

It’s the trial of the century for Philly and their two ‘mob reporters’ are MIA.

They should’ve been covering this play by play.

Makes zero sense to me.

Capeci's turf. They are afraid to cross the Hudson because Capeci will give them a beating...

[SonnyBlackstein]

I just read in the NY post that the defense rests.

Where the hell are Schratweiser and Anastasia?

It’s the trial of the century for Philly and their two ‘mob reporters’ are MIA.

They should’ve been covering this play by play.

Makes zero sense to me.

Capeci's turf. They are afraid to cross the Hudson because Capeci will give them a beating...

[monarch]

Jurors Hear Closings At Joey Merlino Crime Boss Trial

A prosecutor says a reputed Philadelphia mob boss profited from health insurance and gambling schemes despite his claims he had retired from a life of crime.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Schorr made the accusations Tuesday in closing arguments at the New York City trial of Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino.

Defense attorney Edwin Jacob countered by telling jurors that they were being misled by “compromised” turncoat mobsters who testified against Merlino.

[monarch]

From the Press of Atlantic City: Jurors hear closings at 'Skinny Joey' Merlino's trial

A notorious Philadelphia mob boss who claimed he gave up his life of crime instead made money by muscling his way into health insurance and gambling schemes run by organized crime families throughout the East Coast, a prosecutor said Tuesday at closing arguments at a federal racketeering trial.

After spending 12 years behind bars in another racketeering scheme marked by violence, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino soon re-emerged as a feared figure in the Mafia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Schorr told jurors. That meant he could demand a cut of the illicit profits from schemes begun in 2013 by gangsters who were under his protection, Schorr said.

"Being with Merlino did not come for free," Schorr said in federal court in Manhattan. "You pay tribute."

Defense attorney Edwin Jacobs countered by telling jurors that they were being misled by "compromised" turncoat mobsters who testified against Merlino, including one who made hundreds of hours of secret recordings of him.

"Have you heard anybody say Joseph Merlino is the boss of the Philadelphia mob?" Jacobs asked, referring to tapes played for the jury. "The answer is obvious — not a peep that he's the boss of (the) Philadelphia mob."

Merlino, 55, was among nearly four dozen defendants arrested in a 2016 crackdown on an East Coast syndicate that prosecutors say committed crimes including extortion, loan-sharking, casino-style gambling, sports gambling, credit card fraud and health care fraud. It operated in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey.

Most of the defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Merlino is the only one so far to go to trial on conspiracy charges.

Merlino summered in Margate in the late ’90s and, in 1999, was arrested in Margate and charged with directing a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Massachusetts.

In 1998, in Longport, Merlino pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a confrontation with the police.

In her closing, Schorr highlighted testimony by a cooperator who testified that Merlino had full knowledge of a scheme to collect thousands of dollars of insurance claims by bribing doctors to write phony pain cream prescriptions for people who had no ailments. She cited a recording of Merlino that captured him telling cohorts, "We do the right thing, make 20,000."

Merlino's bookmaker underlings got away with brazenly withholding winnings from betters, knowing their affiliation with the defendant sent the message "they were part of La Cosa Nostra," she said.

The defense has claimed that at the time of the alleged conspiracy, Merlino was a gambling addict and fledgling restaurateur who took money from a cooperator because he was always broke. There also was testimony from government witnesses, heard by his wife in the audience, that he drank heavily and that he had an affair with a pharmaceutical saleswoman.

After the testimony about the fling, Merlino approached a New York Post reporter outside court and told him, "Don't put the girl in" a story, the Post reported. He caused another stir earlier in the trial by greeting a juror by name as she waited for an elevator at the courthouse.

Merlino "just said, 'Hi, Sylvia,' and I just turned my head, like, 'Some nerve,'" the juror told U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan at a sidebar, according to a transcript.

Sullivan responded by telling the defendant, "Mr. Merlino, you are to have no contact with jurors, even to say, 'Good morning,' even to say, 'Hello.'"

[Teflon john]

Has to be NOT GUILTY unless the jury is a bunch of dumbasses,Rubeo was the Feds big witness and he fucked them big time. I know they want to get Merlino bad but i cannot believe that they were so stupid or desperate that they were relying on this piece of shit. The FBI needs a complete overhaul,corruption and stupidity is not a good combination.

[bronx]

he has a huge thing in his favor...the fbi is at its lowest point on people trusting them.he can win by jury nullification ..sdny is a liberal district today..thing that may hurt him is that juror who beefed..he should have made a huge move to get her off, cause of the "he has some nerve" answer.if she is married the husband may say fuck him .my opinion

[Teflon john]

I agree,that juror should have been dismissed. Ive heard that the whole thing never happened from someone that was there so that whole story sounds kind of troubling and bad for Merlino,cant believe his lawyer wasnt all over that shit.

[bronx]

For sure John . i would have called into the record for a mistrial if she was not dismissed.grounds for appeal..

[Teflon john]

You are exactly right,never thought of that but his lawyers might use that as a way of getting an appeal if things go bad.

[JCB1977]

My bet is Joey runs out of luck. New York doesn't even know who he is. They could give a rats ass about a Mobster from Philly. They'll hang him out to dry.