Joey Merlino Going Back To Prison

[Pogo The Clown]

Originally posted by Doobez.

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Joey Merlino must return to prison for four months

Joseph A. Slobodzian, Inquirer Staff Writer
October 24, 2014

Former Philadelphia mob boss Joseph Merlino must serve another four months in prison.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick made his ruling Friday after hearing 3-1/2 hours of testimony and arguments about whether Merlino violated his supervisory release by associating with convicted felons in Florida, where he's been living.

Merlino has 30 days before he must start serving.

Defense attorney Edwin Jacobs argued that Merlino's June 18 dinner at a Boca Raton Italian restaurant with several convicted felons - and his meeting late that night at a cigar bar with his former codefendant and ex-mob captain John Ciancaglini - were "chance encounters."

Jacobs argued that there was no proof Ciancaglini was present for the dinner at the Italian restaurant or that Merlino knew that his dining companions were convicted felons.

Arguing that Merlino's federal probation officers in Florida never cited him for violating the terms of his supervised release, Jacobs described the prosecution as a vendetta against his client out of the U.S. Attorney's office.

"I'm starting to think that the FBI and the prosecutors have very long memories and if cases don't turn out the way they wanted them to turn out they follow you to your grave," Jacobs added.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer asked Surrick for "an appropriate penalty" and argued that Merlino was well award of the ban on him associated with current and former Mafia members on convicted felons.

Troyer said what happened the night of June 18 was "Mr. Merlino's night on the town with his mob buddies and convicted felons at a cigar bar that had just opened."

Surrick gave no hinted about how will rule. The judge could let Merlino go home, return him to prison or extend the original three-year-term of supervised release, which expired Sept. 6.

Sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2011 for his conviction on racketeering conspiracy charges, the 52-year-old Merlino was so close to freedom.

But on Sept. 2, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia filed notice that they would ask for his probation to be revoked for violating its terms.

In addition to the June 18 meetings in Boca Raton, Troyer said Merlino also violated his supervised release by refusing to answer a question about his finances in a May 20 deposition with federal prosecutors.

Troyer said Merlino invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he refused to say if he had received a loan from a convicted mobster.

[Pogo The Clown]

Originally posted by Joey Cigars.

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Joey Merlino, Ex-Mob Boss, Gets 4 Months For Meeting Friend

By MARYCLAIRE

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A reputed former mob boss was ordered back to prison Friday for violating parole, and his lawyer complained that the FBI would pursue his client "to the grave."

Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, the reputed head of Philadelphia's La Cosa Nostra in the 1990s, must serve four additional months for failing to report a meeting with a former co-defendant at a Boca Raton, Florida, cigar bar.

"I never had dinner with Johnny Ciancaglini. I bumped into him," said Merlino, appearing fit and tan on a return trip to Philadelphia. "I didn't report it. ... It just slipped my mind."

Merlino, 52, has been living in south Florida since 2011, when he left prison after more than a decade from a Philadelphia racketeering conviction. His lawyer maintains that Merlino plans to work as a maitre d' at a new Boca Raton restaurant that will bear his name.

"His mother helped us out greatly with recipes," said Stanley Stein, the elderly businessman funding the restaurant, who said he flew Merlino up for court hearings this month in a private jet and paid for his stay at the Four Seasons hotel.

The FBI has been tailing Merlino as part of a new, unspecified criminal probe, according to testimony Friday from organized crime task force members. The night of the cigar bar meeting in June, five people in five cars were on the surveillance detail.

Two FBI task force members — who feared they stood out among regulars as they sipped pricey drinks — said they observed Merlino talking with Ciancaglini and other felons in a glass-enclosed VIP section of a spot called Havana Nights.

"It's very obvious what is going on. This is a night on the town with his mob buddies," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer argued Friday.

Defense lawyer Edwin Jacobs Jr. insists the contact was random and amounted to nothing more than "a couple of minutes of chit chat."

Ciancaglini's wife testified that she often visits Merlino in Florida but said her husband steers clear to avoid legal trouble for either of them. Ciancaglini stayed at the hotel when she and Merlino attended the bar mitzvah of Merlino's nephew in Malibu, California, she said.

Troyer also argued that Merlino violated parole when he refused to answer financial questions — instead invoking his Fifth Amendment rights — during an interview with officials.

Although Merlino appears to be enjoying an enviable lifestyle, he reported having almost no income.

"He miraculously survives on a paltry amount of money," Troyer said.

Deborah Merlino testified that she has a successful business and has long supported him. She and the couple's younger daughter had just moved to Florida when officials filed the parole violation notice last month, days before Merlino's supervision was to end.

"We were pretty much planning on moving ahead with our daily lives," Deborah Wells Merlino testified.

That may be more feasible early next year.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick did not extend Merlino's supervised release. However, the FBI might still be watching.

"I think they would follow (Merlino) to the grave," Jacobs said.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/2 ... 44774.html

[Cheech]

I don't know this guy. I have to believe he isn't stupid. But he messed up on this. Has to be kicking himself.
I feel bad for his daughter. She didn't choose her dad. Has to be tough.

[rayray]

He's only getting a few months, Four months I believe?

He's going to get his six pack back, that's what Merlino said...lol

[Mukremin]

4 months is nothing compared to what he did.. after that he will be free to see and meet anyone right?

[joeycigars]

I would bet Merlino was willing to pay the price for meeting with Felons and Chang , Just shows he isnt gonna stop being in the mix , Mazzone ,Marty, and a few other did the same thing , Joey is in that club now, The way Joey thinks he might have wanted to show he was in touch with Philly , Joey is crazy like that IMO

[B.]

I am a bit surprised by all of this. Why would he wait until he was almost off parole and then violate? You have to figure this isn't the first time. I know when he was first released there was talk of him making calls to Philly.

[Cheech]

he was probably violating the whole time. sometimes he would report and sometimes he wouldnt. he happened to get :"caught" this time

[Chucky]

he was probably violating the whole time. sometimes he would report and sometimes he wouldnt. he happened to get :"caught" this time

He came up to NJ a few times on the sneak

[East Bronx]

Did he tell the BOP when he plans to report yet?

[Eddie mush]

This guy intrigues me a great deal . I often wonder how much him and his guys earned ?? They seemed to me to be a tight group of stand up guys . Who all took it on the chin and kept there. Mouth shut . They are most def stand up guys but I wonder if they earned any serious money

[Mukremin]

This guy intrigues me a great deal . I often wonder how much him and his guys earned ?? They seemed to me to be a tight group of stand up guys . Who all took it on the chin and kept there. Mouth shut . They are most def stand up guys but I wonder if they earned any serious money

I don't think they earned like the New York guys who were in to most sophisticated and lucrative business. George Anastasia mentiones it in his book, by the words of Previte that Merlino was more like a hustler doing small street shit. And blowing the money away in no time, he doesnt know how to use or invest money.

[Eddie mush]

I read previte book and got same feeling. So how is this guy living it up so good after all that time in the can . And wen all of them went down how did there families survive

[Pogo The Clown]

From reading about the family post Scarfo you get the feeling that most of them are brokesters. From reading the indictments they don't seem to run any big money operations like NY although a few have come close like the AC Bogota bust and the Delco Nostra bust. So there is still money to be made in their area but it seems that the family's lack of real organization post Scarfo is holding them back from really taping into it. You also don't see the Philly guy's having any stakes in legitimate business like the NY guy's do with the exception of the occasional guy having a bar or something.


Pogo

[JCB1977]

From reading about the family post Scarfo you get the feeling that most of them are broksters. From reading the indictments they don't seem to run any bg money operations like NY although a few have come close like the AC Bogota bust and Delco Nostra bust. So there is still money to be made in their area but it seems that the family's lack of real organization post Scarfo is holding them back from really taping into it. You also don't see guy's having any stakes in legitimate business like the NY guy's do with the exception of the occasional guy having a bar or something.


Pogo

I've said that while they are still somewhat functioning and activity is there, they have been operating more like a gang pulling off small street crimes. Merlino was always small potatoes, no major operations. He and his crew are the epitome of the phrase "hood rich." I've never been a fan of Merlino and his entire crew of Young Turks, but they kept their mouth shut and did lengthy sentences. Even that ugly, Bruce Jenner looking Borgesi. What cracks me up is that Merlino is about as tall as Danny Divito.