The picture with Stevie Mazzone really is from this past weekend, I know Scott's source now

http://gangsterreport.com/the-skinny-on-skinny-joey-checking-in-with-philadelphias-mobile-mafia-don/

There was literally nothing new in that article.

Yada yada yada Joey Merlino may or may not be the boss but probably is yada yada yada Joey Merlino partying yada yada yada Joe Ligambi bridged the gap yada yada yada.

At least Scott stopped calling him enigmatic, handsome and suave though.

It is also nothing new when you say the same thing in every Scott thread. Simple solution. Stay out. yada yada yada

Thank god you spared us an attempt at cracking a joke this time(unless that is what you were attempting) . yada yada yada

It's also nothing new when I am getting pilloried by the same people whenever I post a comment somewhere. Simple solution. Ignore me if I bother you so much.

This is the second time you have attempted to start something now after sticking your beak in on the "What's Going on in Philly Thread".

We get it. You don't like me.

You know his source because of the picture? I dunno..his pictures are usually all over instagram, the guy def isnt trying to hide lol

How many years do you think before Joey is indicted?

seems to be playing it smart but the feds got it out for him and are probably always on him

has to be a matter of time

Yea, no new info here. I just don't know why he keeps insisting on writing the same article with no new info nowadays. He used to be much better than that. Come on, Scott, I still have faith in you brother. Step it up .

Same old story different day.

Amazing that Joeys been boss for 22 years.
22 years. That puts him on par with Chin.
In this day and age, that's huge.
Say what you want but that's impressive.

he has spent most of that time in prison he was on the streets 1994-1999 (not including a parole violation he got around that time) and 2011-16 (not including the parole violation) he has actually only spent ten years on the streets running the family from prison i dont consider impressive look at amuso he is hardly impressive when he has spent most of time as boss in prison

Also Joey was not the official boss till 1999. Joey has not spent alot of time leading the family from the streets and the reality is whoever has the power on the streets is the leader which matters

The fact that Joey can HOLD power, whilst imprison is impressive. And the legitimate power. Not just titular. He went away for a ten years. Vic is a figurehead, he's no threat and never getting out. Joey is not just the figurehead, he's the boss in every respect. And he took a family in turmoil, stabilized it, went away, came back and he's still the man.

The comparison to Vic is apples and oranges. And if you don't rexognize what Joey has done, in that world, is an accomplishment, then I don't know what to tell you.

he also left the family in turmoil when natale flipped and joey and his guys got indicted the family was a mess because of joeys antics several bookies flipped because joey was betting into there books and the way he treated tony scadfi no suprise he flipped either Joey had nothing to do with the rebuilding Ligambi deserves credit for stabilizing that family alot more credit that merlino

Do i think joey has had some accomplishments yes i do how he has lasted this long without the feds getting him for those murders and that inner circle has never flipped thats impressive but do i think he is a good boss? well his past to me says no ligambi is the reason that family stabilized nothing to do with joey when that family began to rebuild joey was in prison says alot. Joey is greedy look at what he did in the 90s look at how be treated other mobsters he was betting into johnny chang and steve mazzones books his own top guys he is a degenerate gambler and whenever he is around there is trouble people have always tried to impress him


Joey held power from 1999-2011 in prison its still running things sure it is impressive but it does not take away the fact he has spent more time as boss in prison than on the streets and that as a boss of a family is nothing something which is good for the family and i predict joey will be in prison anyway two years from now could be wrong but it is coming


he has had some accomplishments but comparing him to the chin? he is not even near that league

Well yeah, Ligambi deserves most of the credit for stabilizing the Philly family. And don't really know why Scafidi flipped but I don't believe it was because of Merlino, he switched to Stanfa's group because of Merlinos treatment, and he flipped way after the fact. I think you have to credit Merlino with the current state of the family and keeping every faction in line.

scadfi switched during the war because merlino owed him 300k from street tax and he would not pay back. Scadfi flipped in 2000 he was already getting out of prison he flipped because he heard through the feds as natale that merlino had said that as soon as he got out of prison he was going to kill scadfi this guy had just done 8 years and joey being bitter was going to have him killed it was wrong of all the rats that family have had he is the one i have the most sympathy with joey and borgesi in particular

he is living Florida it could be argued that it is because of Mazzone and Ligambi there is peace at the moment not really joey i credit him for not being in the cameras like he was and living in Florida is smart but he is not the reason the factions are in line

Ligambi does not get enough credit joey in my eyes is not even half the boss ligambi is let alone comparing joey to guys like the chin

The Feds are the ones that are keeping these guys alive . I am positive that if it was 1975 that city would be in a war .

It has amazed me that the guys just under or just above Skinny have been able to keep him inline and the factions earning.

It is way out of character for these guys they must be using there heads and tired of living in the joint .

I don't think there are any hit men for hire that are not hooked on the shit or a complete ass so you have to use several guys to hit a guy and these guys flip the first 48 hours in the can.

@Sonny

While I wouldn't put him there with Chin (Chin wasn't really in jail during his reign) it is something to hold power for such a long time. I give Merlino credit on the " Gangster side " of things, you can't take that away from him, he is a tough guy. But on the earning side, the most consistent thing I've heard of him doing is betting and not paying up. He might have more action going that's low-key, it's impossible to know right now.

But I suspect that a lot of Joeys power today is in realizing what he can and can not do. Like I think a big reason he's still in charge today is because he ISNT being heavy handed with these guys that just got out. They gotta eat right now, these guys just did 20 and 30 years, how far into their pockets can you justifiably reach before you push em too far? Y'all mentioned Scafidi, I think he should have learned from that situation. Contrast that with how Chin didn't even want MONEY from most of his capos, but he DEMANDED OBEDIENCE.


I'm reminded of something Pizzaboy said, like even though Joey is a boss, when he's in Florida, he might not be in the top 15 of wise guys down there...

But in fairness to Joey, he's never really inherited a Gambino/Genovese level operation, it was in a state of rebuilding, no?

When Merlino went to jail the big bookies was against him because he dont paied them, Bobby lumio from Boston that he made capo flipped for avoid drug charges. Merlino was the boss only because Stanfa that get life lost the NY help and so joey that was on 5he street become the new boss of the family but the family was damage by years of war and by the ratting of some members.
Ligambi stabilized the family not merlino.
I think joey was lucky that stay in philly and not NY where would be done the same end of crazy joe gallo.
At some point must return on philly maybe dont do it because the feds will try to fuck him, maybe become more smart in prison who know.

Joey is actually brilliant because nobody really knew he was even boss until those La Griglia tapes came out

He is a lot smarter than most give him credit for

the feds knew they always know through there informers they find out everything days after it happens they know everything and the feds are the ones who matter

@Gangstereport: you're misunderstanding what I'm saying.
I'm comparing Merlino with Chin in longevity only. Whilst that is in itself a skill, combined with luck, I was not comparing his skill set as a leader with Gigante. And nor did I say so.

Blackjack raises another good point. There was legitimate contention over who the actually Philly boss was throughout Ligambis tenure and it was only the Skins tapes which settled the issue. That is quite the feat for that duration in this day.

How exactly did Merlino stabilize the family? That was clearly Uncle Joe. Merlino gets overrated if anything.

He was smart enough to name Ligambi boss. He was also calling the shots behind prison.

bobby luisi..

exactly anyone who makes that guy a capo does not know what they are doing. Especially a guy joey knew for one years who he made and then made a capo because he gave joey 10k month thats it only reason he struggled to do coke deal sell anything the guy had no idea what he was doing out of his depth him and those idiots he had around him feds could not believe what they were seeing everything previte gave him stolen watches coats he could not move he had to send them back ridiclous

there is a limit in how much you can call shots from prison remember the feds were moving him around all over the country prison to prison thats hard to communicate.

It would be impossible for him run the day to day and that is what ligambi did he strengthened and rebuilt the family and gained it respect from New York.

Joey had no choice but to make Ligambi acting boss because there was no one else on the streets everyone was prison. Ligambi deserves the credit for rebuilding not saying merlino did not have power but Ligambi was the guy who managed to keep that family around


He created his own problems and rats bobby lusi him and borgesi bringing that idiot around and then making him a member after knowing the guy for a year and then a capo the guy had no idea what he was doing previte was giving him stolen watches all sorts he could never move any of it he had to send it back and then the coke deal was just embarrassing. All those bookies who flipped his fault. He embarrassed the name of that family New York was ready to move in after he went to prison Ligambi deserves credit for rebuilding its reputation.

I agree gangsterreport, ligambi is a standup, straight up wiseguy.

But it always just seems that philly is more of a street gang than a proper criminal organisation like new york, i mean they just really have no interesting stuff going on, same old bullshit.

The feds knew? The feds are the ones who matter? First off, you completely missed my point...second... When was the info released, a press release or article that officially said he was the boss before those tapes were made public?

Most of the time when the feds know who or if someone is a boss, guys like us on this board know because they release it and that was not the case.

You love cherry picking the facts to fit your argument.

Exactly, he was acting on behalf of Joey so I don't see how he gets no credit for it.

So did Nicky Scarfo not get credit for the things that happened on the street when Phil was acting on behalf of Scarfo then?

i mean the FBI have informers on the streets who are telling them information i highly doubt they only realized merlino was running things after the skins tape i mean when johnny gongs got killed he was a suspect the feds know everything these guys get upto its crazy there is probably some guys we always thought were standup guys informing there whole lives and we will never know

Why would they release it on here? i dont remember ever reading merlino was not the official boss they always said ligambi was acting boss anyway never read he was the official boss.

I dont know what you mean by "cherry picking the facts to fit your argument." but your right maybe i am misunderstanding what you are saying