CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN MERLINO TRIAL. "TO TELL THE TRUTH DOESN'T TAKE PRACTICE!"

"To tell the truth doesn't take practice," is essentially what Edwin Jacobs, attorney for Joey Merlino stated to the jury just before the lunch hour in Manhattan federal court. It's one of several points Jacobs would hammer before I left today.

This morning the federal government opened up with a long and winding and incredibly dense and complicated case.  When I say complicated it really isn't, but the approach that the government took was to treat the jury as if they didn't understand words like "Cosa Nostra," which she had a hard time saying, and kept referring to it at LCN, which came off snarky and ill informed.  I have seen closing statements before but never one as inept or apparently ill prepared at the one the government brought this morning.

In a little over two hours, the government stated alleged fact after fact, however none of which have been proven thus far, nor did they have any substantiated evidence other than that of the words of John Rubeo and Wayne Kriesberg, which is laughable at best.  They over explained what the racketeering charges meant, what wire fraud and money fraud were for an endless amount of time.  They made Joey Merlino seem like the Carlos Marcello of 2018.  What really got lost in translation was they meandered on "cherry-picking," facts that they thought proved their case, when in fact the very audio tapes they did play lent itself to Merlino having nothing to do with any of this.

The government wants you to believe this was a mafia operation.  They want you to believe that Joey Merlino set this up, and took profits from it.  They want you to believe that Joey is the sole guy behind the curtain.  They want you to believe that Ruebo who lied all throughout his cooperation is somehow now telling the truth.  They want you to believe Rubeo when Kriesberg's testimony is very different than Rubeo's.   The government would close with a snarky "find him guilty line."  The governments whip-cracker really reminded me of someone pretending to be a prosecutor.  That's just my two cents.  It fell flat and was exhausting to listen to.  If they spent more time on logical facts, rather than explaining how crimes work, perhaps she might have had a bench to stand on.  You don't treat a jury like they are unintelligent, and you don't talk down to them as if they just don't understand.  She used the words "overwhelming" more times than my Aunt Susan going through menopause.

Right after the first break Edwin Jacobs began his closing statements.  Off the bat he had twelve points which he covered completely.  I'm not going to place them all here, but I'm going to drop the bombs in here.

1. Rubeo, for 98 of 114 days went unsupervised by the FBI

2. He was allowed to tape when he wanted, report when he wanted

3. He stole the $300,000 from CRIS, blamed it on Camacho, yet somehow managed to buy three luxury cars that month.

4. At no time was Merlino ever on tapes with Kriesberg, Camacho, Cirillo or anyone when they were in deep discussions about medical cream.

5. Rubeo beat his wife. He assaulted someone over money. He carried on an affair.  Lied to the FBI, his handlers, the prosecution.

6. He attempted to blackmail the FBI for more money.

7. Rubeo received at the minimum of $509,000 from the FBI. May be much more.

8. It was Patsy Parello who along with Rubeo set the medical cream up. Patsy had a guy down in Forida and it wasn't Merlino.

9. On tapes Rubeo said "I'm gonna milk this thing for whatever I can get and spoke with author George Anastasia numerous times."

10. Had hundreds of meetings with the FBI in 3-5 hour duration.

Those ten points alone, give me enough FACTS to say Joey is innocent.  If your going to say that Joey Merlino is the head of this scheme then why aren't there transcripts? Why aren't their wiretaps? Photos? Videos? Checks? Nope, nope, nope, nope.  Rubeo deleted and factory reset his phone to hide "porn," which was a huge lie.  We won't know what he deleted because he was able to do that under FBI supervision.

What about the FBI?  They left him unsupervised.  They didn't even alert the Florida FBI to let them know they had an informant working down there.  They allowed Rubeo to do as he wanted without filing out proper paperwork(which is why one FBI agent was suspended, and the other was vocally reprimanded).

To show you even how more inept they are.  They took a photo of Joey Merlino down in Florida and actually said "Joey Merlino, Captain in the Genovese Crime Family."  If you are going to allege organized crime affiliations, perhaps the FBI should know the names of these groups, considering the federal government kept naming them every ten seconds for effect.  Also, not once on these tapes does anyone mention that Joey Merlino is the boss of anything.  That's an assertion Rubeo made on his own opinion.  Keep in mind, Rubeo was owned by Parello, a Genovese Captain.

"How many hours does it take for anyone to get their story straight?" Jacobs asked.  I thought it was a great question.  One that seemed receptive to the jurors.  If you are telling the truth you don't need hundreds of hours to get it right.  You get asked you answer simple as that.  He followed that up with "It's like brainwashing.  You come in and you listen to the government talk and talk and talk, and eventually what isn't, actually is."   What he meant was, sit long enough in a room, realizing your gonna do thirty to forty years, and eventually you are going to math paths between things to make your situation better.  Rubeo doesn't want to go to jail, and he stated that from the very beginning.  Also by including all the things Rubeo did do while under FBI supervision points to the fact that Rubeo was always out for himself.  In fact, had Rubeo got caught selling drugs.  That's how this  began.  He got caught going against Parello's rules, then the FBI wanted him to effectively go after Merlino.  That's how it all began.  Rubeo never worked for Joey Merlino.  He never had anything other than a casual friendship with him.  Rubeo's real connection to "mob stuff," came through Patsy Parello.

I will say it like I've said it all week.  I just don't see how anyone can point the finger at Merlino here. Ask yourself this.  Let's pretend that it took a million people to get this done, for everyone to make money.  How come no doctor, no patient, no pharmacy were indicted or charged or testified?  Why is the government relying on Rubeo?  Think about it, they know how sketchy he is.  Why not bring a pharmacy in, or a doctor.  They didn't, they won't and they can't.  Why?  Because none of them can back up the claims by the government.  In order to convict you have to have "proof."  The only proof I've seen is that the federal government is more corrupt and lazy then I thought.  They are willing to sacrifice integrity and honor the sake of a bullshit conviction.  Don't believe me?  Look at the evidence for yourself.  Like Merlino or not, you have to admire one thing about him.  He's got moxy, and is a fighter, and I can certainly respect that and I hope for him, it's a win, as it should be.


*It is believed that the jury will get handed the case early tomorrow.