Cosa Nostra News

A former Genovese crime family associate who wore a wire and helped the FBI build a major Mafia racketeering case may wind up in the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan for the crime of appearing on the Johnny & Gene Show. Gene Borrello, left, John Alite. Ironically, turncoat John (JR) Rubeo predicted that he could "get in trouble" for appearing on  the podcast hosted by former Gambino associate John Alite and former Bonanno associate Gene Borrello . And now it appears he is just that.  The reason,  Gang Land News reported yesterday , is an "irate federal judge" who is planning to send Rubeo  back to the clink  after watching the podcast and seeing how Rubeo allegedly "openly flouted the judge's order barring him from associating with convicted felons." Rubeo was the wire-wearing mob mole who helped the FBI ensnare 46 wiseguys and associates from several crime families in the August 2016 East Coast LCN Enterprise case , which ...

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...

On Thursday ( July 19), in Manhattan Federal Court, alleged Genovese capo Eugene (Rooster) Onofrio, 76, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for loan sharking. The wiseguy, 76, was only trying to relive the glory days, his lawyer had argued.  The loansharking was an attempt--- a not very bright one, at that ---to relive his glory days, his lawyer sought to argue Thursday. Onofrio was arrested in 2016, one of the 46 alleged members of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno, and Philadelphia crime families indicted for operating a so-called "East Coast LCN Enterprise," as the Fed's named it. Onofrio also pleaded guilty to hustling untaxed cigarettes. Onofrio was caught in a 2014 secretly recorded conversation discussing how to collect an interest payment of $600 on a $30,000 loan. “What do I got to do with him?” Onofrio, of East Haven, Conn., asked. "Do you have to take his eyes out? But hey, those threats were all talk, Onofrio’s attorney,...

Alleged Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino , after pleading guilty to an illegal betting charge last Friday, made a prediction about his hometown team's NBA playoffs. On Jan. 31, 2018, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino enters federal court in New York. (SOURCE) Merlino, a degenerate gambler, as per his own attorney , told reporters outside Manhattan federal court that the Philadelphia 76ers were his pick to win the championship. (Gamblers may want to pay heed to Merlino's sports soundbites.... Before the February mistrial, Merlino had predicted, successfully, that the case would end in a "deadlock win" for him. He also offered what turned out to be a winning tip on the Super Bowl: "Oh, and bet the Eagles .") Merlino also discussed Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill's recent release from prison, saying, "I'm glad he's at home with his family where he belongs." Rolling Stone recently thumbnailed...

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. ...

Ralph Santaniello punched C raig J. Morel    in the face during their initial meeting and told him he was dealing with the boss of the "Springfield Crew" which had "New York" behind it.... Two members of the Genovese crime family's Springfield crew, including its boss, face sentencing on Tuesday in federal court in Worcester. Ralph Santaniello, alleged boss of Springfield crew in August 2016. Giovanni (Johnny Cal) Calabrese and crew boss Ralph Santaniello were convicted following a wide-ranging probe into Mafia activity in western Massachusetts. They were among five area residents convicted for loansharking and the 2013 shakedown of tow company operator Craig J. Morel for $20,000. In testimony, Morel detailed how three generations of wiseguys with the Genovese crime family had sought since 2000 to extort his towing business, which was awarded with a lucrative municipal contract. Also turns out Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino wasn't the ...

Despite indications that they have a fighting chance at winning, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office seem to want to throw in the towel and end a long-running case against alleged Philadelphia boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, who was rounded up with dozens of other wiseguys in August 2016 as per  the East Coast LCN Enterprise case . Joseph Merlino Merlino, though he had no idea til afterward, barely escaped the handcuffs last month, when the judge finally ordered a mistrial. He narrowly avoided getting convicted on fraud and gambling charges, with the jury "deadlocked 10-2 for conviction on the health care scam and 9-3 for conviction on the illegal gambling charges."as Gang Land News (GLN) reported. Merlino won support on the racketeering charge, with jurors evenly split. It could be jurors didn't believe the turncoat testimony, though the case had additional problems. Then, the Fed's showed their hand. They gave Skinny Joey...

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...