{"id":70084,"date":"2018-02-14T16:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-02-15T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=70084"},"modified":"2018-02-14T16:09:45","modified_gmt":"2018-02-15T00:09:45","slug":"skinny-joey-merlino-mob-boss-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/skinny-joey-merlino-mob-boss-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Jurors Hear Closing Arguments at ‘Skinny Joey’ Merlino Mob Boss Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a colorful week in the trial of alleged Philadelphia Mob boss “Skinny” Joey Merlino, as a jury in Manhattan heard the closing arguments on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\""Skinny"
“Skinny” Joey Merlino claims he is a legitimate businessman who went straight after he got out of prison in 2011. But prosecutors told the jury on Tuesday that he remains a dangerous and feared gangster and the head of the Philadelphia Mob. (Image: New York Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The celebrity gangster has spent over a decade in prison for illegal gambling, racketeering and extortion \u2013 but beat a murder wrap. He says he went straight years ago, although the prosecution claims otherwise.<\/p>\n

Assistant US Attorney Lauren Schorr told jurors that shortly after his release in 2011, far from making a clean break of it, Merlino muscled his way back into illegal gambling schemes\u00a0and health insurance cons. As a feared Mafia boss, he was entitled to take a cut from other criminal enterprises under his protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing with Merlino did not come for free,\u201d Schorr said. \u201cYou pay tribute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicky the Wig<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The FBI arrested Merlino in August 2016, along with a group of people with names like “Tony the Cripple,” “Mustache Pat,” \u201cMuscles,\u201d “Tugboat,” \u201cNicky the Wig\u201d and \u201cBig Vinny.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Prosecutors accuse them\u00a0of being members of an outfit known as the East Coast LCN Enterprise, a union of four of New York\u2019s five families \u2013 the Genoveses, Gambinos, Lucheses and Bonannos \u2013 and Merlino\u2019s Philadelphia Mob.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The operation owned sports betting businesses based in New York, Florida, New Jersey and Costa Rica. It also ran an illegal gambling house in New York that took horse racing bets and spread poker tournaments.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

One Angry Moll<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Defense attorney Edwin Jacob claimed that Skinny Joey is the victim of false accusations levelled by \u201ccompromised,\u201d turncoat gangsters. Jacob noted that one of these witnesses secretly recorded hundreds of hours conversations with Merlino, which failed to implicate his client, he claimed.<\/p>\n

Have you heard anybody say Joseph Merlino is the boss of the Philadelphia Mob [on the tapes]?\u201d asked Jacobs. \u201cThe answer is obvious \u2013 not a peep that he\u2019s the boss of (the) Philadelphia Mob.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One witness mentioned that Merlino had conducted an affair with a pharmaceutical saleswoman, causing the mobster\u2019s wife to walk out of the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards, Skinny Joey approached a reporter for the New York Post. \u201cDon\u2019t put the girl in,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n

Skinny Joey\u2019s Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There was more drama when he greeted a juror by name as he passed her in the courtroom. \u201cHi, Sylvia,\u201d he said, all smiles, although the underlying message was clear.<\/p>\n

Cocksure Merlino has never been one to shy away from the press and, on day one of the trial, even offered reporters odds on his chances of getting off.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeadlock win, all the way,\u201d he told The New York Post.<\/em> \u201cAnd bet the Eagles<\/a>,\u201d he added, of the forthcoming Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Skinny Joey got one right. Now it\u2019s up to a jury to decide on the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a colorful week in the trial of alleged Philadelphia Mob boss “Skinny” Joey Merlino, as a jury in Manhattan heard the closing arguments on Tuesday. The celebrity gangster has spent over a decade in prison for illegal gambling, racketeering and extortion \u2013 but beat a murder wrap. He says he went straight years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":70091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJurors Hear Closing Arguments at "Skinny" Joey Merlino Mob Boss Trial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Skinny" Joey Merlino muscled his way into gambling rackets and medical insurance after leaving prison in 2011, jury hears. 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