Where Is Joey Merlino Now? Inside the Reputed Former Mobster's Life Today (and His Unique Career Pivot) By Jessica Sager

Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino was allegedly one of the most infamous mob bosses to ever come out of Philadelphia, although he denies being part of the mafia.

Merlino is at the center of the new Netflix docuseries Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia, which premiered on Oct. 22, 2025. The three-episode series features interviews with law enforcement and former associates chronicling the rise and ultimate fall of Merlino, who was nicknamed the “John Gotti of Passyunk Avenue.”

Merlino and his alleged faction of La Cosa Nostra are widely believed to have engaged in an all-out crime war with Philadelphia mob boss John Stanfa, ending in bloodshed and lengthy prison terms. Merlino and Stanfa didn’t participate in the series themselves, and Merlino maintains that he was never involved in organized crime.

“Listen, I was no altar boy. I’ve gambled. I’ve received stolen goods,” he told Philadelphia Magazine in May 2025. “I never did no violence. I never did none of that. Never. Not me.”

Here’s what to know about what happened to Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino after the events of Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia.

His father and uncle were in organized crime

Joseph Salvatore “Skinny Joey” Merlino was born on March 13, 1962, in Philadelphia.

Merlino’s father, Salvatore “Chuckie” Merlino, and his uncle Lawrence were both “Made Men” and were sworn into the Scarfo family of La Cosa Nostra in 1980, according to the Pennsylvania Crime Commission. Salvatore was an underboss, while Lawrence was an associate who later became a witness for the government.

Salvatore was sentenced to 45 years in prison for RICO and RICO conspiracy, illegal gambling and two counts of distribution of methamphetamine, according to court documents. He was later found guilty of the murder of mob associate Frank “Frankie Flowers” D’Alfonso; however, he and six other defendants were acquitted in 1997, per Philly.

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Salvatore died in prison at 73 years old in 2012, four years before his scheduled release, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“They taught me a lot,” Merlino told Philadelphia Magazine of his father and uncle’s experiences. “Mostly, don’t be a tattletale. And what I learned later in life is that there are so many tattle­tales who are actually lying about you. What happens then? You go to prison! That’s the sad f—— part.”

He allegedly usurped another mob boss

When Merlino was in prison for an armored car heist in 1990, he met Ralph Natale, an associate in the Philadelphia mob, per the Los Angeles Times. There, they allegedly planned to overthrow Stanfa.

Merlino and several of his childhood friends allegedly started their own faction of the Philadelphia crime family that the media dubbed “The Young Turks.” Merlino was released from prison in 1992, per Philadelphia Magazine, and an all-out crime war later began. Things reportedly came to a head in 1993, when Stanfa’s men shot and injured Merlino and killed his reputed capo Michael Ciancaglini, according to the Philly Voice.

In 1996, Stanfa received five consecutive life sentences for a series of charges, including murders of Merlino’s supposed associates and racketeering, CBS News reported.

However, Natale was charged with narcotics racketeering in 1998 and struck a plea bargain to knock his life sentence down to 13 years if he became an informant, per the Los Angeles Times. According to the Washington Post, he became the first sitting American mob boss to ever cooperate with the government.

With Natale’s help, authorities arrested Merlino and six others for 36 counts, including three for murder, two for attempted murder and others for extortion, illegal gambling, drug trafficking and racketeering, according to ABC News.

In 2001, Merlino was acquitted of the murder and attempted murder charges and convicted of several racketeering-related charges, per the outlet. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

He spent more than two decades behind bars

Merlino has spent more than 20 years in prison throughout his life.

He was sentenced to three years in prison for interstate theft and conspiracy stemming from a 1989 armored truck heist, per UPI, but he only served from 1990 to April 1992, according to court papers. The New York Times reported that in November 1993, he was sentenced to another year in prison for a parole violation.

In 1999, Merlino was sentenced to 14 years in prison for racketeering offenses, but was released in March 2011, according to the Everett Herald.

In June 2014, assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer alleged that Merlino violated his probation when he had a “night on the town with his mob buddies and convicted felons at a cigar bar that had just opened,” per NBC10 Philadelphia. Merlino’s attorney argued that his run-ins with alleged and convicted organized crime members were “chance encounters.”

Merlino was sentenced to an additional four months in prison for the alleged probation violation, but was released early after a successful appeal, according to the Philly Voice.

In October 2018, Merlino pleaded guilty to illegal gambling after a jury after was deadlocked on other, more serious, racketeering charges, according to the New York Daily News. He was sentenced to two years in prison and was released in 2019, per the Mob Museum.

He’s never been convicted of a violent crime

During a recording played in Manhattan Federal Court in 2018, Merlino was recorded explaining how easy it is to murder someone during a 2014 meeting with alleged mob associates, per the New York Daily News. Despite that, he’s never been convicted of a single murder or attempted murder charge.

To this day, Merlino maintains that he’s never committed a violent crime.

Rivals attempted to kill him more than 20 times

While Merlino says he’s never committed a violent crime, he’s been the target of quite a few of them.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that Merlino survived around two dozen assassination attempts, including one in which he got shot in the buttocks. Today, he waves all of the attempts to kill him off.

“There have been plenty. Bombs under the car. All kinds of things,” told Philadelphia Magazine. “All of them who tried it did a really­ bad job.”

He was flashy and charitable

Merlino courted the media when he believed to be active in the Philadelphia mob scene, earning comparisons to John Gotti, per the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He often invited reporters and photographers to watch him donate food and money to local houseless people for holidays, give out turkeys to those in need for Thanksgiving and throw Christmas parties for houseless people.

He also marched in Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade and was described as a “celebrity” within the city, according to the outlet.

Where is Joey Merlino now?

Merlino co-hosts The Skinny With Joey Merlino podcast with Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri, which he launched in September 2023. On the show, he discusses everything from NFL football to prison reform and politics.

In late March 2025, Merlino opened a restaurant, Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks, in Philadelphia, which counts rapper Fat Joe, Philly native Amber Rose and former Philadelphia Eagles player Jason Kelce among its fans.

Merlino plans on franchising Skinny Joey’s, telling Philadelphia Magazine, “You watch. You’re going to wake up one day and there will be hundreds or thousands of Skinny Joey’s. Then I’m gonna sell it for a couple of billion, buy a 300-foot yacht, and never look back.”

The Miami Herald reported that Merlino splits his time between Philadelphia and a $400,000 Boca Raton, Fla. townhouse. According to Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia, the FBI is still keeping tabs on him.

In May 2025, he told Philadelphia he only has one real regret in his life, and it has nothing to do with his past as a reputed mob boss.

“I do need to get back to the gym,” he said. “Opening this place, I’ve been eating way too many cheese­steaks.”