FOR MERLINO, EVIDENCE REACHING CRITICAL STAGES

The large question surrounding "Skinny" Joey Merlino, is two fold.  Will he or won't he?  If you are confused about that, what I mean is, will Joey settle out and take a plea, or will he continue to push forward against the federal government?

The latest in this soap opera is the government confirming in a round about way, that mob stoolie John Rubeo has evidence on Joey Merlino not just audibly, but in the form of visually as well.  One of the things the government has done in the past and I have to mention here that it's usually not a good sign when the government tosses out information publicly, but usually it's a scare tactic.  According to sources, John Rubeo was using sunglasses that had a hidden video camera in the lens.  Apparently the FBI has gone super-spy!!!

Of the 48 or so defendants all have taken plea deals accept Merlino and Eugene D'Nofrio.  D'Nofrio has asked not to be tried with Merlino in an effort to sort of move himself away from the charismatic mob boss from south Philly.  All that aside however.....

 The biggest question is the chain of evidentiary command here.  Simply stated, how the evidence was captured, when, how, why, and more specifically why were parts added and deleted?  Anytime you have evidence there is very strict guidelines for turning it in.  The problem here is that Rubeo has handed in evidence way after the fact, with parts missing and deleted which causes a lot of concern on the behalf of Merlino.  When Ron Previte was taping Merlino and Natale, or even when Joe Pistone was handing in taped conversations there was a strict guideline for that.  According to multiple sources the FBI has mishandled Rubeo and the entire case.  There is also no sense in information sharing.  The Tampa branch of the FBI was furious that the Eastern State of New York didn't share information, especially when some of these activities were taking place in Tampa, Florida.  It's common for two jurisdictions to fight over stuff like this because each side wants that indictment.

Add to this that Rubeo also taped many other Philadelphia mob members yet the only member indicted from Philadelphia was Joey Merlino.  It's not to say that sweeping indictments won't flow down the river at some point, but it's highly suspicious.  It reminds me very much of how the FBI was relentless in going after John Gotti Sr and John A. Gotti Jr.  It's the same tactic, but with an informant who at best is a notorious liar.

One of the side facets to this is that Rubeo really liked Joey Merlino by all accounts and one of the more interesting theories here is that Rubeo essentially deleted some information intentionally as not to put Joey in more trouble.  In either case, the government is going to have a difficult time with this case.  Believe me the government doesn't offer a plea when they have all their ducks in a row.  The only question now is, will Joey push it to trial as it appears, or will the federal government bring in a better deal?

The best option here in my opinion is for Joey to fight the charges.  Granted he is looking at some hefty time here, but if all that is coming out publicly about this case is 100% accurate, Joey would be a fool not to fight.  With Rubeo being a less an apt informant, the odds are heavily stacked in Joey's favor here. 

The evidence alone is subject to a lot of questions and the longer this plays out, the better the chances that Merlino will walk, but you also better believe that more is coming down the pipeline for Philadelphia.