Cosa Nostra News

Judgement Day is coming -- and such an inconsequential one, reputed sitting Cosa Nostra boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino probably never saw it coming. Still you never know what's waiting round the corner... Merlino, husband and wife, at January trial in Manhattan. He will be sentenced on October 17 for his role in the East Coast LCN Enterprise case. The guidelines call for a one- to two-year stretch in the can -- a skidbid for Merlino. (" You don't even take your socks off  "  for them, as Gambino capo Michael DiLeonardo once told Intelligent Talk radio show host Ralph W. McElvenny on City World Radio). The alleged sitting boss of the Philadelphia Mafia has faced life sentences. Last Friday, Merlino’s defense attorney asked US District Court Judge Richard J. Sullivan to seal two letters from Merlino's Boca Raton, Florida, cardiologist. Defense attorney Edwin J. Jacobs Jr. of Atlantic City noted that the letter from the cardiologist contains “p...

Manhattan prosecutors reportedly angered a judge yesterday by allowing Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino to plead to a gambling charge. Skinny Joey Merlino an d wife, Deborah  at Manhattan Federal Court for racketeering trial on Jan. 31, 2018. They essentially abandoned a years-long effort to convict him of racketeering, health care fraud, loan-sharking, and other counts. And the judge isn't happy about it, as he made clear yesterday, April 27, 2018. In February, Merlino beat the raps when a jury deadlocked, leading to a mistrial. Since then, Manhattan federal prosecutors decided against trying the alleged Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss again . Judge Richard Sullivan showed his animosity by asking prosecutors why they allowed him to plea to a charge that carries a two-year maximum sentence. "In my experience prosecutors will try the case again. What makes this case exceptional?" Sullivan asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Max Nicholas. ...

Alleged Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino won what mob experts describe as the biggest victory yet in his dark, checkered career in crime when the judge declared a mistrial in his federal racketeering case in Manhattan. Merlino and wife Deborah —a Korean-American. Jurors sent U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan no less than five notes detailing how hopelessly deadlocked they were after deliberating for around four days. In the end, they couldn't decide whether the Feds had proved whether Merlino was guilty of running both an illegal gambling ring and an $11.3 million health care racket (from which “boss” Merlino allegedly got a $100,000 cut). On Tuesday the judge made the call: mistrial. Almost as interesting to us was that big-time Philadelphia wiseguys attended the three-week trial. Supposedly, George (Georgie Boy) Borgesi and former acting boss Joseph (Uncle Joe) Ligambi were there to support Skinny Joey. Will the Feds retry him...

The biggest bombshell in   Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino's federal racketeering trial in Manhattan arguably had nothing to do with any of the crimes listed in the indictment . We love gossip, especially gossip about extramarital affairs. Skinny Joey with wife Deborah Consider that the main charge facing Merlino is his alleged involvement "in a scheme targeting providers of health insurance by causing, and causing others to cause, corrupt doctors to issue unnecessary and excessive prescriptions for expensive compound cream that were then billed to the Victim Insurers." Who really cares about poor victimized insurance companies?  USA Today recently profiled some of the most-reviled companies in the United States, and wouldn't you know: "Few industries are as widely detested as the insurance industry." (FYI, "American consumers appear to especially dislike health insurance giant Cigna.") Genovese turncoat John (JR) Rubeo...