It was billed as one of the most wide sweeping Mob takedowns in years. The FBI’s so called East Coast LCN operation in 2016 snagged wise guys from several different LCN families, including reputed Philadelphia Mob Boss Joey Merlino and two high ranking Capos from the Genovese Crime Family.
When the dust settled two years later, all of the defendants plead guilty to lesser charges except Philly’s Dapper Don, Joey Merlino. He stubbornly went to trial in New York. With some top shelf lawyering by defense attorneys Edwin Jacobs and John Moringolo, Merlino’s first trial ended in a mistrial.
The government promised to retry him on health care fraud and other charges, but Merlino ended that when he reluctantly decided to plead guilty to a single gambling charge, that ended up getting him a two year sentence at a Florida federal lock up not too far from his Boca Raton home.It was the first time Merlino has ever plead guilty to a crime.
Fast forward to this month and the deadly Corona Virus crisis sweeping the country, and we now find both Merlino and ranking Genovese Crime Family Capo, Eugene “Rooster” Onofrio, 78, out of federal prison and home after sources tell Mobtalksitdown.com authorities decided to release them early because of medical reasons and Covid19 precautions. Merlino from a halfway house in West Palm Beach, Onofrio from a Federal Bureau of Prisons medical center in Massachusetts.
This translates into two of the top three gangsters charged in the multi-year investigation now free, with some restrictions. Merlino was due to be released from his halfway house confinement in July. Onofrio was scheduled for “compassionate release” on May 7th, but that was moved up at the urging of a federal judge due to COVID19 concerns. The 58 year old Merlino, who suffered some heart problems two years ago, still has a year of supervised release left.
The third high ranking East Coast LCN defendant, 75 year old Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello, a Capo in the Genovese Crime Family, remains behind bars serving a seven year sentence imposed in 2018. He was jailed without bail following his arrest two years earlier.
The three top ranking LCN figures, it turns out, only came together one time during the lengthy East Coast LCN probe. That was during a December 2014 Christmas party at Pasquale’s Rigoletto on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. The three mobsters were brought there by party organizer and FBI informant JR Rubeo with some big time assistance from the FBI. The feds put up $25,000 to bring the mobsters all together for the Christmas gathering. Merlino even brought some of his top lieutenants to the party, including, the FBI says, then acting Street Boss Michael “Mikey Lance” Lancellotti and “rising star” Capo Domenic Grande. FBI surveillance cameras captured the three top wiseguys in pictures outside the restaurant.
Merlino’s attorney, Edwin Jacobs, told Mobtalksitdown.com that he’s been aware of a change in Merlino’s Bureau of Prisons status, but did not know the specific details about his release from the Florida halfway house.
