October 20, 2018

Mob Talk: 'Skinny Joey' Merlino gets the max

By PhillyVoice Staff

Image courtesy/Dave Schratwieser and Fox29

Fox29 investigative reporter Dave Schratwieser interviews Joey Merlino as the mob boss makes his way into federal court in Manhattan in February 2018.

In the latest episode of Mob Talk Sitdown, veteran crime journalists George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser digest the news that Philly Mob Boss Joey Merlino gets hit with the maximum two-year sentence after pleading guilty to a gambling charge. What does it mean for Joey, the Philly Mob and the FBI's ongoing investigation in Philadelphia. Plus, a high-level mob sitdown takes place just days before Merlino's sentencing. What was it all about? Why were only high-ranking wiseguys invited, and what's next for Scarfo Crime Family Captain Faffy Innarella, who is out of prison and off supervised release.

MORE MOB TALK: Philly's bloody mob war: 25 years later

Watch the latest report (and a previous episode) below, and subscribe to their YouTube channel to view past and future episodes:

NEW EPISODE

PREVIOUS EPISODE

In Episode 22 of Mob Talk Sitdown, Anastasia and Schratwieser recall the August 25, 1993 hit on Michael "Mikey Chang" Ciancaglini and Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino outside their clubhouse. Merlino took a bullet in the buttocks and survived. Ciancaglini, shot once in the chest, was killed. The hit ordered by boss John Stanfa was a sloppy effort by the "gang that couldn't shoot straight" and emblematic of that period in the Philly mob wars, Anastasia says.