Salvatore Merlino

Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino (born June 29, 1939, Ducktown, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States) is an American member of the Philadelphia crime family and former Underboss for Nicodemo Scarfo. He is the father of Philadelphia mobster Joey Merlino.

Early life
Salvatore "Chuckie" and Lawrence "Yogi" Merlino were friends of Nicodemo Scarfo since they were teenagers. In the early 1960s, Scarfo was banished from South Philadelphia to the Italian enclave of Ducktown, Atlantic City for killing a man for no reason. This exile came at a time when Atlantic City was a dying town.

Change of fortune
Legalized gambling changed everything in Atlantic City, and the Merlino brothers were by Scarfo’s side as he rose through the underworld to eventually become the Boss of the Philadelphia crime family. For most of the 1980s, Scarfo and his mob ruled with an iron fist. .

Scarfo's underboss
Mid 1980's when Scarfo was made boss, he made his closest and oldest friend, Chuckie Merlino, his underboss.

Chuckie Merlino's daughter, Maria, was engaged to Salvatore Testa, the son of Philip Testa. Salvie was an up and comer in the family and stealing some of the spot light from Scarfo. Scarfo was enraged and was waiting for a reason to kill Testa. Testa broke off the wedding with Chuckie's daughter and Scarfo had his chance. An enraged Merlino was settled down when Scarfo announced Salvie would be killed. Testa was whacked on September 14, 1984.

The murder of Salvatore Testa one of many murders that Scarfo and Merlino orchestrated.

Convicted
The reign of Scarfo was bloody. Chuckie Merlino became an alcoholic and no one knew what he would say when he was drunk. The paranoid Scarfo demoted Merlino and his brother Yogi to soldiers, also known as being put on the shelf. Shortly after this occurred, Merlino was indicted and charged with racketeering and murder. Merlino is serving his time at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth, a low security facility in Fort Worth, Texas. His projected release date is August 3, 2016.