Who made Joey merlino?

[moneyman]

Made by Stanfa in '91/'92, proposed by Joe Licata.

Scoops proposed Merlino?

If I remember right this was an effort by Piccolo and NY families to appease the Merlino/Chang faction at the time.

[JakeTheSnake630]

I still don't understand, someone who is actually from Sicily, spent decades in the life, why would they ever induct former LE and non Italians. You would think Stanfa would be a purist and not even want people from other parts of Italy. I know it all comes down to money, but its still gotta be one of the weakest moves a boss has ever made.

[Pogo The Clown]

I still don't understand, someone who is actually from Sicily, spent decades in the life, why would they ever induct former LE and non Italians. You would think Stanfa would be a purist and not even want people from other parts of Italy. I know it all comes down to money, but its still gotta be one of the weakest moves a boss has ever made.

Necessity makes strange bedfellows. Simply put Stanfa didn't have anyone else to recruit. The next generation of associates who would have been in line to get made were almost all agsinst him. He was left with only a few left over old men like Piccolo, Sparacio and Bocchino.


Pogo

[dack2001]

We went over this subject a couple years ago, I believe. Whether he was actually made is an open question. They certainly treated him like he was made but he never went through a ceremony.... Merlino's guys get in there, he's bringing you dollars, why question it. It wasn't like there was a lot of guys from the Stanfa regime they could call and ask. The way they treated him like an ATM and spoke about him makes me think his status with some guys was doubted and some were playing him because he was paying them...

[Pogo The Clown]

He was made. DiLeonardo said Philly made a cop in the early 1990s (an obvious reference to Precite) and both the Feds and GA have arrived him as a made member since the 1990s. It has also been discovered that Stanfa was considering Previte for a leadership role should he (Stanfa) be indicted.


Pogo

[dack2001]

Let's have the same argument again shall we? Anyone can go back a read the thread. I stand by what I wrote. I also don't doubt DiLeonardo heard what he heard but there was a lot of politics in play there when Natale and Merlino were taking over....

No gun or knife, no finger prick, no ceremony, it either means something or it doesn't...

[Pogo The Clown]

Lots of guys are made without the finger pricking, gun, knife or a real ceremony. For decades that is how most of the Bonanno, Chicago and DeCavalcante guys were made. It doesn't mean anything. If the boss of the family tells you are a made member than you are a made member. Gotti told his family that Philadelphia made a cop. What do you think he was refering to?


Pogo

[dack2001]

Mine was a reference to the Sopranos, you strunz. Go back and read the thread from a year or two ago. i'm not getting into it with you again.

[Pogo The Clown]

I knew that dummy but that was the crux of your argument.

but he never went through a ceremony....

So we have John Gotti saying Philly made him, we have John Stanfa, Ralph Natale and Joey Merlino recognizing him as a made member which is a view endorsed by LE and GA but he was not really a made member because you don't think he went through the proper ceremony.


Pogo

[chin_gigante]

I knew that dummy but that was the crux of your argument.

but he never went through a ceremony....

So we have John Gotti saying Philly made him, we have John Stanfa, Ralph Natale and Joey Merlino recognizing him as a made member which is a view endorsed by LE and GA but he was not really a made member because you don't think he went through the proper ceremony.


Pogo

Also significant is that when word got out in the mid-late 90s that the Scarfos were trying to take over, the three individuals who were identified as being on their hit list (and, as such, received warnings from the FBI) were Natale, Merlino and Previte

[Momo]

Thank you all for your answers, I really appreciate it.

[TommyGambino]

Joeys had it in his head that he was gonna be boss since he was like a teenager.. he’s gonna be like the persicos and never step down even if he’s serving life..

Wasn't he a jockey in his teens? Dreaming of being a mafia boss...

[chubby]

Joeys had it in his head that he was gonna be boss since he was like a teenager.. he’s gonna be like the persicos and never step down even if he’s serving life..

Wasn't he a jockey in his teens? Dreaming of being a mafia boss...

Haha ya he was but that was probably around the time he was doing collections for his dad or whatever and he was pinching envelopes...
I’m sure Merlino s dream since a kid was to be in the mob.. it’s what he was raised around.. uncle, dad....

That’s. Like saying narducci dreams of being Gordon Ramsey cause he’s got a restaurant...

[Mikeymike12]

Was any of joeys inner circle guys made before him?

[chin_gigante]

Was any of joeys inner circle guys made before him?

Ralph Natale testified that Martin Angelina, George Borgesi, Michael Lancellotti and Steven Mazzone were present as inducted members at his initiation ceremony in late 1994. Merlino got out of prison November 1994 and in November 1995 Kitty Caparella reported that Angelina, Borgesi, Lancellotti and Mazzone had been inducted "within the past year." So it appears they got made in that small gap between Merlino getting out of prison and Natale being made.