Merlino's Luck

Joey Merlino, the flashy former boss of the Philadelphia crime family, is one of the luckiest mobsters in the mafia.  Merlino has survived numerous assassination attempts and gotten away with murder.  He has done a lot of time, but none that took him off the streets for good.  He has lived a charmed life with lots of toys.  

He was out in Los Angeles and even made it on TMZ at the airport with Howard Stern wack packer Johnny Fratto. I wonder if he actually got one of these wannabe Hollywood types to buy his life’s rights?

Merlino might have hit the prosecutorial lottery in his latest case.  Merlino, along with 46 other members and associates of the mafia, were picked up on charges ranging from illegal gambling to medical fraud in 2016.

The problem is with the informant in the case, John Rubeo, a former Genovese associate.

John Rubeo recorded over 800 conversations with various mobsters including Merlino.  

The problem is, John Rubeo erased a lot of the conversations.  

I have nothing for respect for the FBI.  All the agents I ever had dealings with were consummate lawmen.  They were all by the book and kept their word to me.

I wore two wires most of the time, really small MP3 recorders hidden in things like my watch. It only had an on switch and there was no speaker.  I recorded and dropped them off and then was given new ones everyday. All my calls I recorded through their system and I had no access to the system.  My car was wired, and again I only had an on switch.  I had to meet my handlers and there were always two of them, a couple times a week.  They would debrief me and write it down for 302’s.  I used to forward text and emails via email daily.  I wonder how was it possible for Joph Rubeo to delete any conversations.  How did they not properly debrief him?

Two agents and their supervisor are in hot water over the lapses.

It is possible that Merlino and the 46 others including a Genovese underboss and capo could walk free.  It does leave a huge hole in the case, because as defendants they are entitled to all the evidence even that which maybe exculpatory.

If evidence has been destroyed, how could they possible have a fair trial?

Joey Merlino may actually walk on this case and his life rights could turn into another really bad Hollywood mafia movie.

NYPD Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, is one of the best real estate investors in New York.

This guy is so good that he was able to get four properties that belonged to various Bonanno family members, including Vinny Basciano and Dominick Cicale, located in the Bronx, at below market rates.

I wonder why he even bothers to work for the NYPD anymore.  A company owned by his wife bought a lot that at one time had a home on it where the Bonanno’s had an initiation ceremony.  The home belonged to Cole's mother.  The home is gone and the lot had a 990,000 dollar loan against it.  Delatorre's wife’s company bought it and sold it to an LLC owned by Delatorre.

Much like many of today’s political elite, these people are excellent investors!  Just look at some of the people in Congress and Senate who never hold a private sector job, yet leave office with millions in the bank.  Why do they not share their investment secrets with us regular people?

Scores Gentlemen's Club & the Gambino Family

Scores, the famed Gentlemans Club in New York City in the 1990’s, was a prominent feature on the Howard Stern show.  It secretly added millions to Gambino Family coffers.  How did it all start?  It all started with the takeover of National Heritage Insurance Company in Orlando, Florida by three businessmen and a New York Lawyer named Michael Blutrich.

Opening a stripclub seems to be a strange choice of business for a white collar lawyer like Blutrich. After all, he had been a founding partner in Blutrich, Falcone & Miller.

Blutrich committed fraud to help with the takeover of the insurance company.  Blutrich opened a fake bank account and then wrote a four million dollar check for the company that was no good at the time.  Once they gained control over the company they used it to cover the check.  He then was given a $300k loan from the company for Scores.  David L Davies, the new CEO of the insurance company, then put in $700k to become a secret partner in Scores.  Blutrich did not want to open another “Jiggly Joint,” one of those small seedy clubs that used to pepper Manhattan.  He wanted to open a really upscale club, like those that Miami club King Michael Peter’s Pure Platinum and Solid Gold clubs.

Scores would cater to the high end customer with huge TVs, plush lounge areas and the hottest girls.

In 1991, while building Scores, Blutrich was approached by a Gambino Associate named Mikey Hop, aka Michael Sergio.  Mikey Hop told Blutrich that he would have to pay to open a club, or he would be bombed.  Blutrich took it seriously so he started with a $1k weekly cash payoff.  The Gambinos wanted the coat check concession, the right to put in their own bouncers and the right to run the valet parking.  The coat check alone would bring in more than $200k a year for the Gambinos and the then acting boss Baby Gotti.   The coat check was run by Stephan Sergio, the son of Mikey Hop, who had the great nickname “Sigmund the Sea Monster.”  

The first year the club ran in the red, so Davies wanted out.  The Gambinos let Blutrich bring in another guy named Pfeiffer to buy out Davies and run the club.  

Meanwhile, the Gambinos had taken over almost every aspect of the club.  They decided who hauled the garbage and who sold supplies like toilet paper and booze to the club.  They got a cut from the door and they partied for free.

In 1996 Blutrich and Pfeiffer were indicted for looting the insurance company in Orlando, Florida.  The FBI raided Scores and their office in New York in another investigation into the Gambino family.  Blutrich and Pfeiffer decided to cooperate with the FBI and wore wires when meeting with the Gambino Family.  

Scores was grossing more than a million a year despite the payoffs.  The FBI placed hidden cameras in the Scores offices and they wired up everything including their cars.  They would get over 1000 hours of tape during the investigation.  They caught made Gambino soldier Craig DePalma in their net.  Craig was the son of Gambino Capo Greg DePalma and he was bringing Baby Gotti his end from Scores.

The FBI brought the hammer down on Baby Gotti and  39 others with the Gambino family in 1998 based on the evidence gathered by Blutrich and Pfeiffer.