Joey Merlino

Joseph Salvatore "Skinny Joey" Merlino (born March 13, 1962) is an American mobster and reputed boss of the Philadelphia crime family.

He rose to power and seized control of the organization in the mid-nineties after he fought against the John Stanfa faction of the family.

He has led the crime family in gambling, loan sharking, drug trafficking, and extortion.

In comparison to other traditional mob bosses who shunned the limelight, Merlino has interacted regularly with the media and the public, often openly providing charity and hosting events to benefit indigent people in Philadelphia, drawing comparisons to the similarly outgoing, conspicuous, and ostensibly charitable late New York crime boss John Gotti.

He is the son of deceased Philadelphia crime family underboss Chuckie Merlino.

Merlino was born on March 13, 1962, in Philadelphia to Italian-American parents Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino and Rita Giordano.

Merlino was raised in South Philadelphia and Ventnor City, New Jersey.

He is also the nephew of deceased Philadelphia crime family mobster-turned government witness Lawrence "Yogi" Merlino.

Joey's sister, Maria, was briefly engaged to Salvatore Testa.

He had been friends with future made man in the Philadelphia crime family Michael "Mikey Chang" Ciancaglini and his brother Joseph "Joey Chang" Ciancaglini Jr. since attending St. Thomas Aquinas grade school in Philadelphia's Point Breeze neighborhood.

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.

In August 1982 at age 20, Merlino and Salvatore Scafidi, son of bookmaker Gaetano Scafidi Sr., beat and stabbed two male patrons at the Lido Restaurant in Atlantic City.

In 1984 Merlino was found guilty on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose.

In August 1984 he was banned by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission from New Jersey casinos.

His father Salvatore would also be banned by the same commission as his son for his criminal activities on May 23, 1984.

Nicky Scarfo demoted his father Salvatore from his position as underboss to soldier because of his father's alcoholism.

In 1988 Salvatore was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for two counts of racketeering and drug trafficking.

Joseph Merlino has been described as a particularly vicious person, obsessed with his own public image, and another version of New York's John Gotti.

"Joey was a party guy," said mob associate Ron Previte, a police officer-turned gangster-turned government witness.

"He liked to go out. He liked to gamble. He liked the high life."

He invited TV crews to his annual Christmas party for the homeless, and was a fixture at the city's nightclubs, restaurants, and sporting events.

Along with his longtime buddies and future mobsters, he was known to beat up people, rob people, and start fights in clubs.

On October 31, 1989, Nicky Jr., the son of imprisoned Philadelphia family boss Nicky Scarfo Sr., was shot in an Italian restaurant in Bella Vista.

The younger Scarfo was shot eight times with a MAC-10, but was not hit in any vital organs.

He quickly recovered and left the hospital less than two weeks later.

No one was ever charged with the attempted murder, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law enforcement believe Merlino carried out the shooting to settle a score between the Scarfos and Merlinos and to show that the elder Scarfo had no more power in Philadelphia.

Merlino denied any involvement and claimed he was at home under house arrest the night of the shooting.

Years later when a TV reporter approached Merlino and asked about a rumoured $500,000 bounty on his life, Merlino responded "Give me the half million dollars and I’ll shoot myself."

In August 1989, Merlino was charged with interstate theft and conspiracy charges stemming from an incident where $352,000 was stolen from a Federal Armored Express truck in 1987.

In January 1990, Merlino was convicted of planning the heist and sentenced to three years in prison.

Merlino served his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, McKean, where he met mobster Ralph Natale in 1990.

Natale was a longtime mobster who was serving a 15-year prison sentence for arson and drug trafficking.

According to Natale, he and Merlino began plotting to take over the Philadelphia crime family during this period.

Natale named Michael Ciancaglini, Steven Mazzone, George Borgesi, Gaetano "Tommy Horsehead" Scafidi and Martin Angelina as Merlino's key associates and co-conspirators in the plan.

These men were all close friends of Merlino since high school and started moving in on criminal rackets in Philadelphia.

When John Stanfa emerged as the new leader of the Philadelphia family in 1991, the young group of mobsters openly rebelled against him.

With the help of boss-turned-informant Ralph Natale, Merlino was convicted of several RICO charges including racketeering, illegal gambling and extortion, in 2001, and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Since his release from prison in 2011, the FBI and organized crime reporters believe he continues to run the Philadelphia–South Jersey Mafia.

Merlino disputes this, saying he has retired from a life of crime.

As of 2015, Merlino divides his time between south Florida and Philadelphia.