1. Joseph Salvatore "Skinny Joey" Merlino was born on March 13,1962 and is an American former mobster who was the reputed boss of the Philadelphia crime family from the 1990s until 2024.
43 Facts About Joey Merlino
1. 2.
Joey Merlino rose to power and seized control of the organization in the mid-nineties after he fought against the John Stanfa faction of the family.
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Joey Merlino has led the crime family in gambling, loan sharking, drug trafficking, and extortion.
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Joey Merlino is the son of deceased Philadelphia crime family underboss Chuckie Merlino.
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Joey Merlino disputed this, saying he had retired from a life of crime.
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Joey Merlino was born on March 13,1962, in Philadelphia to Italian-American parents Salvatore "Chuckie" Joey Merlino and Rita Giordano.
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Joey Merlino was raised in South Philadelphia and Ventnor City, New Jersey.
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Joey Merlino is the nephew of deceased Philadelphia crime family mobster-turned government witness Lawrence "Yogi" Merlino.
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Joey Merlino had been friends with future made man in the Philadelphia crime family Michael "Mikey Chang" Ciancaglini and his brother Joseph "Joey Chang" Ciancaglini Jr.
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Joey Merlino's father owned and operated the 9M Bar in Southwark that Nicky Scarfo used as his criminal headquarters during his attempt to become the new boss of the Philadelphia crime family.
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In 1984 Joey Merlino was found guilty on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose.
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Joseph Joey Merlino has been described as a particularly vicious person, obsessed with his own public image, and another version of New York's John Gotti.
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Joey Merlino quickly recovered and left the hospital less than two weeks later.
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Joey Merlino denied any involvement and claimed he was at home under house arrest the night of the shooting.
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In January 1990, Joey Merlino was convicted of planning the heist and sentenced to three years in prison.
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Joey Merlino served his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, McKean, where he met mobster Ralph Natale in 1990.
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On September 17,1993, a friend of Joey Merlino's was shot and killed by Stanfa gunmen.
18.
In November 1993, Joey Merlino was arrested by the FBI, charged with violation of his supervised release, and sent back to prison.
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Nevertheless, Joey Merlino gained notoriety as a flamboyant, celebrity gangster who often went out partying with a large entourage.
20.
Joey Merlino invited the press when he held Christmas parties for the homeless and gave away turkeys at Thanksgiving in housing projects.
21.
In March 1998, Anthony Turra, on trial on charges of plotting to kill Joey Merlino, was shot dead outside his home by a gunman in a black ski mask.
22.
Joey Merlino was shot twice as he left for the federal courthouse.
23.
Three years later, Joey Merlino was put on trial for helping orchestrate the murder, but was acquitted.
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Joey Merlino was friends with Steve "Gorilla" Mondevergine, president of the Pagan's Motorcycle Club.
25.
Joey Merlino sometimes used the Pagans to help settle underworld disputes.
26.
On June 28,1999, Joey Merlino was indicted and detained without bail on one charge of conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and one charge of unlawful use of a communication facility in relation to a drug trafficking offense.
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Joey Merlino was acquitted of all three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
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Joey Merlino was found guilty of racketeering charges including extortion, bookmaking and receiving stolen property.
29.
In March 2004, Joey Merlino was acquitted of Sodano's murder as a violent crime in aid of racketeering.
30.
Joey Merlino served his prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana.
31.
Joey Merlino was released from the correctional facility on March 15,2011, after serving almost 12 years of his sentence.
32.
Joey Merlino was transferred to a halfway house in Florida for six months and then was on supervised release until 2015.
33.
Joey Merlino was released 10 days early and was free of any post-release restrictions after he won an appeal from the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
34.
The restaurant was owned by a group of investors; Joey Merlino is forbidden from owning an establishment that serves alcohol due to his criminal record.
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Joey Merlino opened a restaurant called Joey Merlino's Italian Restaurant in Boca Raton, Florida in 2015, and it closed in 2016.
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Joey Merlino was arrested at his home in Florida and put on trial in New York City.
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Joey Merlino was charged with one count of racketeering, one count of fraud and two counts of illegal gambling.
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Joey Merlino was accused of entering into illegal business arrangements with New York criminals in the Genovese crime family.
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Joey Merlino was accused of taking part in a massive medical fraud scheme in Florida that had doctors prescribe patients with unnecessary medical products and billing patients' insurance companies.
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Joey Merlino refused any plea offer and went to trial on January 30,2018.
41.
Joey Merlino agreed to plead guilty to one charge of facilitating illegal gambling transactions via an electronic device in exchange for the US Attorney's Office dropping the remaining charges against him and recommending a prison sentence between 10 and 16 months.
42.
In October 2019, Joey Merlino was granted an early release and moved to a halfway house to finish the rest of his sentence, later given supervised release in South Florida, where he has since led a legitimate and philanthropic lifestyle.
43.
In January 2023, Joey Merlino reappeared in the news when he posed for a photograph with former US president Donald Trump at a Trump-owned golf club, with both men making a "thumbs up" gesture.