Joey Merlino and the 'Mob War': The secrets Netflix didn’t reveal

In the shadowed alleys of 1990s Philadelphia, Joey “skinny Joey” Merlino rose through the ranks of the underground world his father and uncle had long inhabited.

Rooted in the legacy of the Scarfo family, Joey made headlines, flaunted power and lived under the watchful gaze of law enforcement.

When an FBI-led crackdown brought charges of gambling, drug trafficking, extortion and attempted murder as the big case finally caught up. Convinced for racketeering as he faced years behind bars.

But the story didn’t end there. In Florida at age 63, Joey claims the mob life is done.

He now runs a cheesesteak business called “Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks” and co-hosts a podcast that frames him as a voice for the voiceless, a pivot from the headlines of old.

Yet the docuseries left something out, the quiet reinvention, the conscious escape from crawling agreements, the attempt to build legitimacy beyond the scars of his past.

Joey Merlino isn’t still in the spotlight of gangland turf wars, he’s trading in cheesesteaks and microphones. The war may be over, but the reinvention is still playing out.