Merlino Trial thread

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cosanostra101
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by cosanostra101 »

Here is an old article of Capeci. it sounds like Inzerillo is not the Undercover but was handling the source. Jacobs is certainly going to address this:



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September 21, 2017 This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci

Mob-Busting G-Woman In Monster Case Gets A Clean Bill Of Health; Retires

Gang Land Exclusive!John RubeoJoy Adam, the main FBI agent in the indictment of 46 defendants linked to five crime families that has been hampered by an FBI inquiry into agent misconduct, retired last week after more than 25 years as a trail-blazing, mob-busting G-Woman in Uncle Sam's decades-long legal assault against the mob, Gang Land has learned.

Sources say Adam, who has been part of many prosecutions of top Genovese mobsters since she joined the FBI squad that focused on that family in the early 1990s, including a 2003 conviction of the family's legendary boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante, put in her retirement papers about a month ago, shortly after the FBI's internal probe found no wrongdoing by her.

Sources say the FBI did sanction and suspend agent William Inzerillo for "technical violations" of FBI policies for failing to properly supervise and maintain information that was obtained by the FBI during its five year investigation of powerful Bronx-based Genovese capo Pasquale (Patsy) Parrello by his longtime associate, cooperating witness John (J.R.) Rubeo.

Pasquale ParrelloGang Land was unable to learn the length of Inzerillo's suspension. A key finding about Inzerillo, who has not been part of the case since last year, was that "there was no evidence that he had an inappropriate relationship with Rubeo or anyone else in the case," said one law enforcement source.

Gang Land's sources were mum about the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibiity probe of the FBI supervisor in the Parrello investigation, William Vredenburgh. He currently supervises a Westchester-based FBI squad that focuses on organized crime activity in the northern suburbs.

None of the agents, or spokespersons for the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office would discuss the internal FBI probe, or what impact it, or agent Adam's retirement would have on the charges against four defendants still awaiting trial.

Joseph MerlinoPhiladelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino and Genovese capo Eugene (Rooster) Onofrio are charged with crimes including extortion, gambling, loansharking, and health care fraud. Mob associates Daniel Marino Jr. and Anthony Cirillo are charged with illegal gambling.

Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Sullivan has scheduled the trial, which prosecutors estimate will take about three weeks, to begin in January.

Several former FBI colleagues spoke very highly of Adam's abilities, her attention to detail, the knowledge she has acquired about the Genovese crime family, and her willingness to work long hard hours to get the job done.

"She is an excellent agent," said a former FBI supervisor who worked closely with Adam in joint investigations. "She put to bed the notion that a woman couldn't work organized crime cases," he said. "She knows whatever there is to know about the Genovese crime family. Her going is a big loss."

Vincent Gigante"Joy's a hard worker who leaves nothing to chance," said another former colleague who has also collaborated with Adam in cases involving two crime families. "She crosses all the T's and dots all the I's. It's no surprise that OPR found that she did nothing wrong in the Parrello case," he said.

Based on court records, FBI documents and recollections of former colleagues, Adam was assigned to the Genovese family squad after a short stint on the squad that investigated the Bonanno family. She was involved in the original FBI probe of the San Gennaro festival, which led to the 1996 indictment — and subsequent convictions — of the acting hierarchy of the family, including its current boss Liborio (Barney) Bellomo.

From 1998 through 2001, Adam was intimately involved in the planning and execution of the undercover investigation during which mob turncoat Michael (Cookie) D'Urso wore a wire for three years and helped prosecutors indict and convict Gigante, his son Andrew, Bellomo again, and scores of other Genovese mobsters and associates on racketeering and other charges.

Liborio BellomoBefore heading up the Parrello investigation in 2011, Adam flipped a New York mob associate and two Springfield, Massachusetts-based mobsters to bring down acting Genovese family boss Arthur (The Little Guy) Nigro for racketeering and the 2003 gangland-style slaying of capo Adolfo (Big Al) Bruno.

Adam's husband, Charles Beaudoin, served as his wife's FBI supervisor during the undercover investigation that led to Chin Gigante's 2003 labor racketeering conviction. In an interview, Beaudoin praised his wife as an "excellent agent" who was most likely "the most productive agent in the FBI's criminal division in recent years."

Beaudoin, who retired in 2004 and currently heads a private consulting and investigating firm, said "there was no question about whether she did anything wrong. Her name was just thrown in there with everyone else."

Charles Beaudoin He described Adam as a "tough" hard charging investigator who turned down several promotions to FBI supervisor because "she likes the investigative aspects of the job. She told her bosses many times, 'I don't want to be a supervisor.' I should know," he added, "I've been married to her for a long time."

Beaudoin declined to answer further questions about the difficulties of a husband-and-wife team working on the mob, but he did confirm something that Gang Land had heard elsewhere: Like Skinny Joey Merlino, the highest ranked mobster in the Parrello case, Adam is a City of Brotherly Love native, and she is a "diehard" fan of the Philadelphia Phillies. "She often attends Phillies games in full regalia," he said.

Ironically, one of the charges that the FBI cleared Adam of, was failing to upload "numerous investigative reports" about alleged criminal activity by Philadelphia mob boss Merlino to the FBI's database to keep Philadelphia agents in the dark about the case, thereby preventing them from expanding the probe to include cohorts of the Philly mob boss.
cosanostra101
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by cosanostra101 »

Here is another Capeci article identifying Inzerillo as a case agent Cheech:


April 13, 2017 This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci

Feds Push For Plea Deals; Sealed Government Letter Lists Seven Areas Of Possible Wrongdoing By FBI Agents

Gang Land Exclusive!Joseph MerlinoAmid an embarrassing internal investigation of FBI foul-ups, federal prosecutors have agreed to drop the top charges lodged against most defendants in last year's blockbuster indictment of 46 mobsters and associates from five crime families, Gang Land has learned.

Among the wiseguys poised to benefit are the two biggest Mafia fish who were snared in the case, Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino and Genovese capo Pasquale (Patsy) Parrello. Sources say that under a tentative deal, the veteran Mafiosi, and many others, will slide on racketeering conspiracy charges that carry longer sentences. Instead, they will be allowed to cop pleas to the substantive crimes they are charged with, like gambling, extortion, and health care fraud.

The government's push for plea deals in the massive eight-month old case comes one month after prosecutors told defense lawyers about an ongoing FBI inquiry into potential wrongdoing by three veteran New York agents who allegedly hid investigative reports and tape recordings made by a secret informant to keep the information from other FBI field offices.

Pasquale ParrelloA March 8 government "discovery" letter to defense lawyers, which was ordered sealed by judge Richard Sullivan, spells out seven "general areas" of possible wrongdoing by the agents, according to a copy of the letter that was obtained by Gang Land.

The three-page letter — penned by the five assistant U.S. attorneys in the case — reveals that an "administrative inquiry" was launched by the FBI's Inspection Division on February 23 "into the conduct of two case agents and an FBI Supervisory Special Agent."

The Inspection Division is acting as a preliminary fact-finding body for the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility. OPR makes the final decision on wrongdoing, as well as the type and severity of the punishment, which could mean a suspension, or even dismissal.

The letter does not name the agents, but as Gang Land reported last month, the case agents are William Inzerillo and Joy Adam, longtime members of the old "Genovese squad" that now investigates the Bonanno and Colombo families as well. The supervisor is William Vredenburgh.

Richard SullivanOne of the "subject matter areas" that the Inspection Division declined to pursue, Gang Land is pleased to report, was whether "FBI personnel" leaked "confidential details" about the investigation "that have appeared in Gang Land News," wrote prosecutors Amanda Kramer, Abigail Kurland, Jessica Lonergan, Jonathan Rebold and Lauren Abinanti.

"The subject of the Administrative Inquiry is an allegation that (the three agents) violated an operational guideline or policy that governs the handling of informants, assets or cooperating witnesses," wrote the prosecutors, who cited "two general subject matter areas" that were being probed.

The more serious allegation was "that numerous FBI investigative reports" and "recordings made by [cooperating witness John (J.R.) Rubio] were "intentionally withheld" from the FBI's internal computer systems while others "were restricted without approval … in order to keep other FBI field offices from accessing data relevant to the New York investigation."

William SweeneyThis scenario, as Gang Land has previously reported, prevented mob-busting agents in Miami and Philadelphia from piggybacking off the New York probe and making cases against Merlino cohorts whom Skinny Joey met numerous times in those cities as well as in New York during the five-year-long investigation.

Ironically, New York FBI boss Willian Sweeney, who had the final say on the matters that were referred to the Inspection Division, headed the Philadelphia FBI during the final stages of the probe.

The other subject matter of the internal probe questions the lengthy periods of time it took agents to prepare written reports about meetings and conversations that Rubeo had with the wiseguys and mob associates. FBI guidelines call for the reports — so-called 302s and 1023s — to be written within five days. But that rule is often broken, and usually overlooked in mob cases since there are fewer agents assigned to organized crime squads these days.

The FBI, U.S. Attorney's office, and defense lawyers declined to comment about the matter. But in Gang Land's view, it's hard to see how those two aspects of the probe would hinder the ability of prosecutors to try the case.

John RubeoThat cannot be stated, however, about two of the other allegations that the Inspection Division declined to pursue, as well as other revelations about Rubeo that are contained in the letter.

The Inspection Division declined to investigate whether Inzerillo told Rubeo "certain details regarding the investigation prior to the takedown" last August as well as the "factory reset of a cellular telephone that was used by (Rubeo)" during the investigation," the prosecutors wrote. The reset caused the "deletion of certain communications between (Rubeo) and defendants," prosecutors wrote.

The Inspection Division also declined to investigate "whether these deletions were authorized or otherwise sanctioned by Agent (Inzerillo,)" the prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors wrote that they first learned in November that Rubeo "had conducted a factory reset of the Cellphone in or about August of 2016" and that the last time the phone had "been imaged by the FBI" was on July 31, 2015. Between that date, and last August, the prosecutors wrote, many of the lost "calls and text messages were captured by the FBI on a computer system that records calls and messages" but "some communications between (Rubeo) and certain defendants may not have been preserved."

John TogninoAt trial, defense lawyers use facts like deleted phone and text messages and missing tape recorded conversations to challenge the honesty of the cooperating witness, and the integrity of the entire prosecution. This can be especially effective when the sole substantive charge is a non-violent crime — like gambling, or selling untaxed cigarettes — and the crimes of the mob turncoat, and his actions in the investigation, can be made out to be worse than the defendant on trial.

Even several extortion charges in the case, which revolve around discussions with Rubeo regarding the non-payment of gambling losses, or admonitions by defendants against beating up other gangsters or gamblers, could be compromised by the lost recordings and/or calls or text messages.

Also stressing out the feds, sources say, are allegations in state court filings, which are also cited in tape recorded conversations, that Rubeo, who began cooperating with the feds in 2011, stole $500,000 from the offshore gambling operation of two elderly mob bookmakers in the case, John (Tugboat) Tognino, 74, and Pasquale (Patsy) Capolongo, 68, in September of 2013. Discussions laying the theft on Rubeo, as Gang Land reported last month, were picked up on a court-authorized wiretap obtained by the Rockland County District Attorney's office.

Pasquale CapolongoBefore they disclosed the internal FBI probe, prosecutors had been playing hardball, insisting that all plea deals would require a guilty plea to racketeering charges. But they later switched gears, agreeing to permit defendants to plead guilty only to the substantive crimes in the case, pending approval from Justice Department officials in Washington.

It sounds complicated but it's not. While all 46 defendants are charged with being part of a racketeering conspiracy called the East Coast LCN Enterprise — an entity that does not exist in the real world — 13 defendants are specifically charged only with illegal gambling, and three only with selling untaxed cigarettes.

If one of those defendants were to plead guilty to racketeering, his sentencing guidelines, all other things being equal, would call for 21-to-27 months in prison. But if he pleaded guilty to the substantive charge, his guidelines would be 6-to-12 months.

The numbers would be different for those charged with health care fraud, or extortion, or with more than one specific crime, as many of the others are, but in most cases, not pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges would lower the sentencing guidelines significantly.

Sources say the government expects to have a final answer from Justice Department bosses in two weeks.
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SonnyBlackstein
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by SonnyBlackstein »

I don’t understand Inzerillo to be the UC either. In another GL Capeci states the UC would not be testifying which I found incredible and remarked upon at the time.

The UC served as Onofrio’s driver. The only reason I can assume he’s not testifying is he’s UC on another case.
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moneyman
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by moneyman »

Inzerillo is mentioned as the Case agent in the Merillo/Parello pretrial memo posted by Stroccos in the FBI Files section. He did not operate in any undercover capacity, at least from what I read in the memo. I recommend reading what he posted, you can read a lot of the transcripts from the Rubeo wiretaps.

Question for PHL_Mob and Chucky.. do you think that the case against Merlino is weaker than the Ligambi case from 2011 where he was acquitted?
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by Chucky »

It appears weaker due to the shit surrounding the handling of Rubeo, but that's me. You're giving Jacobs a lot to work with there. Ligambi, and a lot of other guys, benefited I think from Stefanelli killing himself.
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by Cheech »

thats my bad.

UC not testifying. thats already been mentioned as well.
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by Cheech »

moneyman wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:38 am Inzerillo is mentioned as the Case agent in the Merillo/Parello pretrial memo posted by Stroccos in the FBI Files section. He did not operate in any undercover capacity, at least from what I read in the memo. I recommend reading what he posted, you can read a lot of the transcripts from the Rubeo wiretaps.

Question for PHL_Mob and Chucky.. do you think that the case against Merlino is weaker than the Ligambi case from 2011 where he was acquitted?
ive read it
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cosanostra101
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by cosanostra101 »

Hey Cheech why did you take your original comment out?
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JCB1977
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by JCB1977 »

Chucky wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:45 am It appears weaker due to the shit surrounding the handling of Rubeo, but that's me. You're giving Jacobs a lot to work with there. Ligambi, and a lot of other guys, benefited I think from Stefanelli killing himself.
Couldn't agree with you more Chucky. If Stefanelli testified, Ligambi & Co would have been locked up
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by Rocco »

Teddy Persico wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:45 pm
Rocco wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:28 pm
Teddy Persico wrote: Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:59 pm
Rocco wrote: Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:10 am
JCB1977 wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 6:24 pm
Rocco wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 3:23 pm
Stroccos wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:21 am
Rocco wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:12 am if he walk they will just keep going after him till they get him like Gotti. and jr Gotti's strategy wont work for him because guys that have left the mob aren't seen recently in nyc hanging with the westside talking about killing guys...
Well in Merlino case it’s quite obv he’s guilty and he never left the mob
Gotti on the other hand was not on tape and actually did quit
Correct-a-mondo.. I think a NY jury might convict Merlino. I think he is dumb to go to trial. But hey he like the attention.
Bingo Rocco! He’s in love with himself. A fucking disgrace to old school LCN. This guy is a fucking asshole, I hope the Feds get this douchebag off the streets and he gets a long prison sentence that is “for good.” Either way, his life is shit.
I agree. He should get 20yrs just for driving around in a White Rolls without a legit source of income. Shit for Brains. Best he could come up with is working as a Hostess in a restaurant. Open a fucking business with your money. And he is upset he got arrested. So stressed hes got heart problems. What did he think LE was going to do ? Buy him and ice cream cone and say have a nice day Joey ? Some guys have it...some guys just don't...
How the hell do you know he has no legit forms of income? Have you seen his financials? He isn't being charged with tax evasionin and Merlino clearly has plenty of legitimately wealthy people around him.

In August, Don Michael Petullo, a former Las Vegas businessman who worked in the casino industry, registered a company, DNS Inc., at Merlino’s Boca Raton address.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bizjou ... n.amp.html

Wether he's driving a Rolls Royce or Toyota Corrola the Feds are going to after him regardless.
He doesn't just the restaurant. Which is now gone. If he had a business in his name it would be all over the place and the news. Merlino prob hasn't filed a tax return since 1986...
What makes you say that? How many mob guys have there businesses info "all over the place and news"?
If Joey Merlino had a legit business he would want it in the news. He would want everyone to know he is legit. He likes the attention. Why do you think that restaurant was called Merlino's ? Also you want your legit business known. Its your front. Its a must. What don't you get about this here?
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by Fughedaboutit »

JCB1977 wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:40 pm
Chucky wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:45 am It appears weaker due to the shit surrounding the handling of Rubeo, but that's me. You're giving Jacobs a lot to work with there. Ligambi, and a lot of other guys, benefited I think from Stefanelli killing himself.
Couldn't agree with you more Chucky. If Stefanelli testified, Ligambi & Co would have been locked up
why? they had the tapes still.
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by moneyman »

Fughedaboutit wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 4:32 pm
JCB1977 wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:40 pm
Chucky wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:45 am It appears weaker due to the shit surrounding the handling of Rubeo, but that's me. You're giving Jacobs a lot to work with there. Ligambi, and a lot of other guys, benefited I think from Stefanelli killing himself.
Couldn't agree with you more Chucky. If Stefanelli testified, Ligambi & Co would have been locked up
why? they had the tapes still.
That's an interesting question, I think Stefanelli had to be there to tell the jury that he recorded everybody, this is how it went down etc. I don't know for sure though I'm not a lawyer.
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by bronx »

the agent who wired him can testify
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Fughedaboutit
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by Fughedaboutit »

The tapes were as good or better without Stefanelli. He had to tell the jury he recorded everybody? There are tapes! They cant draw that conclusion themselves?

It might have been worse for the prosecution if the defense had him to tear apart credibility wise etc
"I wanna hear some noise." "Tell Salvie to clean the boat, the whole boat top to bottom" -Nicodemo "Nicky" Scarfo Sr"
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Re: Merlino Trial thread

Post by Teddy Persico »

Rocco wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2018 1:46 pm
Teddy Persico wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2018 8:45 pm
Rocco wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:28 pm
Teddy Persico wrote: Wed Jan 31, 2018 7:59 pm
Rocco wrote: Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:10 am
JCB1977 wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 6:24 pm
Rocco wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 3:23 pm
Stroccos wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:21 am
Rocco wrote: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:12 am if he walk they will just keep going after him till they get him like Gotti. and jr Gotti's strategy wont work for him because guys that have left the mob aren't seen recently in nyc hanging with the westside talking about killing guys...
Well in Merlino case it’s quite obv he’s guilty and he never left the mob
Gotti on the other hand was not on tape and actually did quit
Correct-a-mondo.. I think a NY jury might convict Merlino. I think he is dumb to go to trial. But hey he like the attention.
Bingo Rocco! He’s in love with himself. A fucking disgrace to old school LCN. This guy is a fucking asshole, I hope the Feds get this douchebag off the streets and he gets a long prison sentence that is “for good.” Either way, his life is shit.
I agree. He should get 20yrs just for driving around in a White Rolls without a legit source of income. Shit for Brains. Best he could come up with is working as a Hostess in a restaurant. Open a fucking business with your money. And he is upset he got arrested. So stressed hes got heart problems. What did he think LE was going to do ? Buy him and ice cream cone and say have a nice day Joey ? Some guys have it...some guys just don't...
How the hell do you know he has no legit forms of income? Have you seen his financials? He isn't being charged with tax evasionin and Merlino clearly has plenty of legitimately wealthy people around him.

In August, Don Michael Petullo, a former Las Vegas businessman who worked in the casino industry, registered a company, DNS Inc., at Merlino’s Boca Raton address.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bizjou ... n.amp.html

Wether he's driving a Rolls Royce or Toyota Corrola the Feds are going to after him regardless.
He doesn't just the restaurant. Which is now gone. If he had a business in his name it would be all over the place and the news. Merlino prob hasn't filed a tax return since 1986...
What makes you say that? How many mob guys have there businesses info "all over the place and news"?
If Joey Merlino had a legit business he would want it in the news. He would want everyone to know he is legit. He likes the attention. Why do you think that restaurant was called Merlino's ? Also you want your legit business known. Its your front. Its a must. What don't you get about this here?
That's all an assumption on your part. Just because Merlino likes attention doesn't automatically mean he would make all his business public.
The way you talk, you just confuse him.
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