PHILADELPHIA _ Reputed Philadelphia mob boss Joey Merlino was arrested in Florida on Thursday as part of a sweeping East Coast mob takedown that snared dozens of alleged mafia members.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced that 46 La Cosa Nostra members, leaders and associates were charged in a federal racketeering indictment. The FBI said the defendants include members of four New York crime families: Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese and Bonanno.
Merlino, who has been living in Boca Raton, Fla., was one of three people leading a criminal enterprise that involved gambling, gun sales and health care fraud, prosecutors alleged. The other two were identified by authorities as Bronx restaurant owner Pasquale "Patsy" Parrello of the Genovese crime family and Eugene "Rooster" Onofrio.
According to the indictment, Merlino _ along with Parrello and Onofrio _ "supervised and controlled members of the enterprise engaged in illegal schemes," which included running an illegal casino, selling untaxed cigarettes, and trafficking illegal guns.
The indictment alleges that members of organized crime families in New York and Philadelphia worked together as part of the "East Coast LCN Enterprise," and that some members committed arson and assault to protect their interests.
Among other things, prosecutors accused the group of running an illegal casino in Yonkers, N.Y. _ "The Yonkers Club" _ where patrons could play poker, take part in in dice tournaments and bet on horse races.
The men are also accused of selling illegal cigarettes with a street value of more than $3 million, and committing credit card fraud.
In 2011, the indictment says, several of the accused mobsters set fire to the car of a man they believed to be running a gambling operation near their Yonkers club. And in June of that year, the indictment alleges, several others _ at Parrello's direction _ attacked and threatened pandhandlers Parrello believed were harassing customers near his restaurant.
Merlino's name is mentioned in connection with only a few of the allegations in the indictment, including participating in three sports gambling businesses _ one based in Costa Rica, the others in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Merlino is also accused of participating in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe unnecessary "prescription compound cream" to patients, the indictment says.
Merlino was released from federal prison in 2011 after serving about 12 years on a 2001 racketeering conviction. He later served about three months in a Miami prison after he was caught associating with Philly mobster John "Johnny Chang" Ciancaglini at a Florida cigar bar in 2014. That violated the terms of his probation.
Merlino regained his freedom in April 2015.
"He's out. He's a free man," Merlino's attorney, Edwin Jacobs, said at the time.
Once known as "Skinny Joey," Merlino built a chiseled body in prison and reinvented himself as the maitre d' at a Boca Raton restaurant that bears his name and serves recipes inspired by his mother in South Philadelphia.
Merlino had said he left behind his life of crime after his time in prison. Prosecutors never believed him.
