Witness: Construction firm had mob ties

Far from being the self-made man he says he is, Joseph N. Merlino was actually set up in the construction business by his father, a convicted Mafia killer, a retired federal corruption investigator testified Monday.
Merlino and his mother are seeking a license that would permit their company, Bayshore Rebar of Pleasantville, to [...]

Ex-FBI agent says NJ Merlinos are not mobsters

Joseph and Phyllis Merlino, involved with organized crime? Fuhgeddaboudit!
That was the testimony Friday of a former FBI official who helped bring down the Philadelphia mob in the late 1980s.
Although Joseph N. Merlino’s father, Lawrence “Yogi” Merlino, and his cousin Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino were high-ranking mobsters, former FBI agent Larry Schneider testified [...]