Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - GENE BORRELLO EXPOSES JOEY MERLINO (Why Philly Hates Him)

Episode Date: January 18, 2024

GENE BORRELLO EXPOSES JOEY MERLINO (Why Philly Hates Him)

The whole Joey Molino situation is... Listen, he's broke. He tried to embarrass Mike Francis. You're not a respected boss when everyone's banging your wife while you're in jail. Bottom line. All of his fan boys, like, they started leaving comments on my shit. You know how many messages I get from people in Philadelphia giving me dirt on him? A guy from Philly sent me the picture of him in that dress.

They hate him over there. And they'll be able to sit at a table with a wise guy and have a sit down for anybody. They'll tell him, get the... I was born in Brooklyn, Canarsie, Flatlands, Nadey 4th. I lived there until I was about, I don't know, seven or eight years. years old. My mom and dad end up getting divorced, and I went over to Ozone Park Queens, which is all Italian, you know, at the time. Right. Mid-92, I want to say 93. And then I went over to Howard Beach Queens, which is like, you know, the mafia sole pauper of the country. And that's,

you know, basically where my upbringing was, you know, with all the Italians and the related people, should I say, surrounded me, you know, from young. And I lived with my mom. And then my stepdad was a frank he was a good guy you know i mean i grew up with him he raised me as well um he wasn't a street guy you know total opposite for my dad my dad was a raven lunatic i mean great guy but you know he was just you know not a mafia guy but he was a street guy right i mean so uh i had his DNA should i say right my dad was arm robber nut shooting people the whole thing connossi nut did 10 years in prison um but that like you know i follow it's it's scary to say that DNA is real

because I ended up being just like him you know what I mean in that aspect like violent and wild and you know when I came up and then my mom's side

was all organized crime yeah a lot of it I was gonna say the DNA thing it's like everybody's like oh it's 50 50 environmental and you know nurture versus nature but the truth is

there's probably 90% nature I mean my dad was literally just like me my mom said when she met him he would open up his jack and have guns all over him I mean literally stolen guns

calls in front of the house like they were his. He was just, you know, he did shoot somebody. I'm going to say the story. A gay guy hit on him in a barbershop. He went back and shot the guy and did five years for that because the guy hit on him in front of people. That's how he was. You know, he was a nut. You know what I mean? So then he calmed down. He became a hard work. He left, went and got a gun. Left, got a gun came back and shot him in his leg in the barbershop. Wow. And did time for that. Yeah, because the gay guy said he was good looking. All right? I mean, sure that's even hitting on him. I mean, listen. And it's just a seven, you can't say that in the 70s.

You know what I'm saying? That's like a, you know, a bad thing. So he was an armed robber as well. He was a real, he passed away now. He died almost a year from today. January 21st to be a year, he's gone. But, you know, like I said, he was a good dad. He was just, you know, a wild guy.

He's a hothead bipolar, all of that. And I feel like I'm exactly who he was. It's scary. DNA is real, man. And I say it's like, you know, even my cousin Johnny boy. And my cousin Johnny boy was my uncle Johnny's kid. And my uncle Johnny was a tough motherfucker of Anna Kanozzi. And my cousin was probably 20 times worse to me.

Right. He had four murders at 20 years old. Right. He was running around shooting and killing people for John Jr. And running with that whole crew, he ended up getting killed by Vito Guzzo. Is that how you, you know, started? I'm explaining, it was all around me. That's all, like, I'm trying to tell you, like, that's all we knew.

So, you know, to us, the mafia is like, like our nature. Like that's just what it is. It's part of our life, you know, especially Ozone Park Howard Beach, you know. Well, you know, it's funny too, you go to, like I didn't really, like, you know, growing up, like I'm growing up upper middle class. Right.

So it's always like, oh, well, they could do better or they could do this, they could do that. But then you go to prison and you start hearing these guys' stories and you realize, like, you were a black guy born in the projects, your mother's, you know, a prostitute, or you're raised by your grandmother, your father's, you don't even know him. He's been in jail for 20 years. Everybody you know that's making money is selling drugs. It's like, what else are you going to do? Like that, like, you didn't have a, you know, that's it.

So, I mean, it's the same thing. If everybody you know that's making money and doing well is robbing people, then you think, well, that's how I have to survive. It's not, and it's not even that. I can't, I don't want to say like the time off is better, but we're like high class criminals, as we say. Because, like, we live in a million-dollar homes, you know, it's like we can fit in with anybody. You know what I mean? And Howard Beach is beautiful. The house has started 600 into four.

million. You know what I'm saying? It's a multi, it's a million dollar neighborhood. It's all rich people, but it's a corrupt suburb. You know what I mean? You had four bosses living there once. Vicamuso, Joey Scopo, Joe Massino, John Gotti, that's all in one neighborhood in a 10 block radius. Okay, so think about all the people that are in there. You know what I mean? So it was like, you know, it's just all around you. At what point did you cross that line? Right. Or were you always like stealing? No, I was bad. I got kicked that every school. I mean, it was just, you know, a nightmare. Yeah. It was a fucking walking nightmare. That's what I was, Putting crazy grueling people's locks, you know, just from young, just terrorize it.

Yeah. So, okay, so, well, I mean, is there one specific event where you realize like, hey, this is, this is bigger than cutting somebody's tires or this is, this is bigger than just me fucking around? We're actually going to go rob somebody to get money. Oh. Or we're going to, you know, is there one event where? No, so, you know, I started off with, I started getting locked up for assaults. That's what ended up happening. When I was like 15, 16, me and my friends were like, you know, getting into fights a lot.

But then, you know, we started. doing like, you know, fucked up shit, beating people up, you know, hitting people with tools, you know, all kinds of shit. I ended up getting a case at like 16 assault with a weapon. But my group of friends, we all wanted to be criminals. You know what I mean? It's just like, I guess as we got older, like, they went into like city jobs or things like that, and I ended up going to jail.

Right. At 18 years old, I got caught with a kilo cocaine with my grandfather. So I was in the drug game. I was, yes, I was done. With your grandfather? With my grandfather. Yeah. My grandfather was, you know, a criminal as well.

He'd end up dying in prison. He was in my uncle Andy's crew. He was, you know, affiliated with all of that. And, yeah, he used to teach me how to clean guns, take him apart, you know. But, you know, like, he knew I was in the street. This is just how it was. You know, I mean, that's our culture almost, you know, what you could say, you know. What is your mom saying, brother?

No, so I was at her house, out of her house at 17 years old, pretty much. But we were like, that's like the closest person to me. You're still getting in trouble while you were there. Is she like, what are you doing it? Oh, I put it to hell. Yeah, I put it to hell. I'm talking about, I used to steal the, I'd jump out the window.

I did a hit and run with the car at 15. I flipped the guy over, almost killed him. I took off. They had to crush the car. It was a whole fucking nightmare. What's funny is, like, you say it, you talk about it. Like, you know, like, in my, basically because I've watched a bunch of movies, like I understand they, you used the car, someone saw the car, so you guys had to dispose

of the car because you didn't want to link back. But you say it like it's nothing. Like, like the average every day, like, you know how it is. No, I don't. Most people are going to school, getting a, high school diploma, going to prom. That's not, you know, like I said, it's, no, I didn't go to, I dropped out of ninth grade. You know what I mean?

So I started selling drugs for Hootie. It was a guy in the neighborhood, he does shows as well, Anthony Bousseau. And I started like 16 years old, just move, just, this petty stuff, you know what I started off. And then I started getting, you know, worse and worse. And by the time I was 18, I ended up getting locked up for a brick of Coke. Oh, okay. With my grandfather. And I went to adolescent in Rikers Island, no bail.

and that's when it's just, you know, that's it. How was Rikers Island as an adolescent? I mean, I was doing a story on TikTok the other day about it. It's the worst place you can go to in the country. That's just what it is. You know, it's just nonstop chaos. It's violence 24-7, you know? I would think that adolescent prisons would be,

adolescent prisons are worse than regular prisons. I mean, literally it's C-74. It's called Adolescents at War. That's what they call. C-74 adolescents at war. So I remember walking in there for like 10 minutes, and I watched like three people get their head split open. I was just, just walked in.

It's just like nonstop, like, violence, you know what I mean? So that's what I was stuck in, you know, no bail, A1 felony. Can't bail out. And if you've got a trillion dollars, no bail. They remanded me. So how long was that? I did 18 months. My grandfather actually took the weight and says, you know, like wrote to the judge says he

wasn't supposed to be there, please, he's my grandson, and took more time, a lot more time. Okay. It was, we got set up by a guy named Danny Marcher, my grandfather's friend from Jersey. And my grandfather's friend, he wanted a brick of Coke. And my grandfather said, oh, I said, oh, grandpa, says, I'll get it for you. I get a better price. He's like, what do you mean?

I said, yeah, I'll get it for cheaper. And I got it for a good price. And he was a fucking sting operation. So you did 18 months, your grandfather. What did he get? He got three to life. Yeah, but they end up becoming a three to nine because they changed the Rockefeller law. So under the old Rockefeller law, A1 felonies was three to life.

They changed it. So everybody was coming back down with life sentences at the end and it became a three to nine. And he ended up getting out like only in two, three years, but then he went back in. And he ended up dying in prison. yeah sorry about that um so all right so you get out you got out you went in you saw how detrimental the trajectory of your life was detrimental you changed your ways you got out you ended up opening a company now you're a CEO and everything went you changed no that's not what happened so i ended getting out and i was worse and then uh i got out i was like 20 years old and um i teamed up with

my partner of bobby g alonzo who was the nephew of vina sarro and Ronnie G. Alonzo, for those who don't know, most do know. Vinnie and Saro is a legendary captain in the Banana Crime family. He was part of the Altonza Heiss. He, um, his best friend, partner was Jimmy Burke as Robert De Niro played as. That's his partner in crime. Um, I end up working for them. Okay.

Him and his nephew, Ronnie G. Alonzo, who became like my, my mentor, basically. What are you doing when you say you work for it? Are they giving you like little jobs and you're getting there, give me a 500 here? It's not like the movies. You don't get paid to do anything, really. because you're working your way in to be a part of them. Right.

So for most people when they see the movies, oh, here, kid, that's not how it works. You know, you do things for them. Like they have a loan shark business, a sports betting business. So they'll put you on. Okay, Gene, bring me sports bettors. I'll give you a half sheet.

Whatever they lose, you get half. So you start getting a sports book now. Gene, you got customers for Shylocking. Okay, Ronnie, a guy needs 10,000, 12,000. I get it at one point. I put it out for two or three points, so I make money on his money. Right.

What if they don't pay? That's on me. I'm responsible. That's why you can't, not anybody could do this business in my era because you got to be able to collect your money. Right.

So I was good at collecting money. I was extremely violent and my partner of Bobby G was probably worse. So we were two brutal guys running around doing fucked up shit, armed robberies, shooting, stabbings, made a reputation for ourselves and we fit perfect in with that crew.

But if somebody pays, then it's fine. Yeah, that's fine. Oh, yeah. Most time people do pay. Right. You know what I mean? Okay. Right. So, I mean, like, how does this progress? Do you, are you doing well? Are there close calls? Do you, do you, at what point are you being investigated?

I mean, I think I was always being investigated. I mean, you know, I don't think there's a time where I wasn't. How do you know that, though? How do you know? I mean, I mean, I mean, your name's just out there, you know what I mean? Do you see them? Like, do you see the- You never see the FBI. The only time you see them is when they lock you up. Oh, they'll leave of you a card, which means you're getting locked up. So they'll leave the card. You know, when they leave the card or they ever present themselves to you, you're getting locked up. That means you're indicted.

It's too late. Everybody, that's the, all right, so everyone that's here's this, if you're listening to this, if the FBI presents themselves to you and hand you a card, that means you're indicted. You're getting locked up. They're asking you basically, you want to work with us? And if not, they'll see you within six months, you're on indictment. Right.

We all know that. That's like the neighborhood thing, you know what I mean? It's even worse when they walk away. And you don't hear from six, for six months. for six months, you're in agony, like, waiting for like, oh, what does this happen? Yeah. Maybe they forgot. They didn't forget.

No, you're coming. Yeah. So, at, so you're, you're, you're working for, I mean, you're, the banana crime family, right. The queen's fraction. And, like, what happens? What's the, what's the next, like? Well, it's just all about money.

Right. You know, I mean, it's all, it's all about making money. That's, you know, we're not like street thugs that just cut you because you have a red shirt on or you have a, different colors. We don't, that's not our thing. Our thing is money. We want to get into everything.

We just want to make money. We want all the money. Right. You know what I mean? So I was with a guy that made a lot of money. And all it was was about protecting his money. Okay. At any costs.

Well, so, so what is the benefit to doing that? Like, if you watch, look. Money power spec. Okay. Okay. Well, because I was going to say, if you watch the Godfather. Right.

You know, obviously this is from, I'm a novice. I understand. I'm not, I'm not Wade and, and Jeff and all these other guys who like, they, they like, have studied it and read books and, like, I don't know. I know what I know comes from watching The Godfather, watching Goodfellas, watching Casino. Right. So, but what I'm thinking is in the Godfather,

like, when I watched The Godfather, I realized watching that, I was like, you know, I can see the benefit. Like, if you get in trouble, he's, they've got, they've got judges on the payroll. They've got, you know, and maybe that's a 60 shit. Yeah, you know, I'm not honestly, she, my era, that was all gone.

Right. I mean, you might have a, we had dirty, cops obviously that's that happens but I mean for you to have a judge on the payroll that's over with you know like shit like that that's like 70 60 shit you know the godfather exactly right that era that's no more you know I mean so um in my era it was more of loan shocking sports betting extortion drug dealing which you're not supposed to be stealing right and robbing drug deals that was my thing me and my guys love robbing drug dealers right but what's the benefit for you being a part of an organization making 40,000 a month no I'm saying

As opposed to just doing it yourself. Oh, so, you know, well, it's organized crime. You know, you're with the mob and, you know, you want to become a member. And, you know, it's this entitlement. You know, you're a guy now. You run the area. You know, you're guys that run the neighborhood, run these areas. And you're the guy.

Is it also something where you've got people to back you up if I need two guys to come with me? Oh, fuck yeah. Or if I need to go, if I need $100,000, oh, you can go to Jimmy. Yeah, he'll give it to you. Absolutely. Okay. You know, and, you know, plus, everybody came to me for everything because I was involved in everything.

Like, I was the gun guy. You know what I'm saying? Whenever you needed a gun, you came to me. I just had guns everywhere. That was my thing. I love guns. So, you know, like I says, we were running around. We were a bad group of kids.

Right. What time period is this? This is from like 2003 to like 2015. No, what I'm saying? How old were you? Sorry, how old is it? Oh, I started, I mean, I started with the mob at 20 years old. Okay.

Like really with them. Right. You know what I mean? So what happened? And, you know, what, are you, so you're doing ars, things like, didn't something, didn't, in that? Well, I did a list of arsons. I mean, I probably blow up 20 cars. I'm just saying, but I mean, in the time frame, I mean, you know, if a guy, I'll give you

an instance, like Mike Padovone, he was a made guy in, in my circle. And his daughter got into an argument with another kid in school. I guess the kid was picking on his daughter. Okay. So Patoona knew the guy was, I think, a fireman or something or a cop in that nature. and um everyone called me genie boy uh this motherfucker's kid won't stop let's send him a message go set his car on fire i went and said it basically a dt car on fire right that we didn't care like we thought we were just above everybody we didn't go fuck who you are what you are that's just how we operated

we believe that we ran this shit you just live here right you know what i'm saying when when does it come back on you though how long at what point do you end up going back to jail or going to jail again oh i went to jail 22 came out of 26 then went back into 30 came out of 35 yeah it was just What were those for? So, well, at 22 years old, I went away because my father, my dad got jumped at a bar. They split his head open and I went there and shot the place up. And I got caught with the gun and did three to six years for that. Okay.

Came home. And then in 2010, Ronnie G. Alonzo was serving seven and a half years for extorting a stock broken from him. He was taking $100,000 a month from them. And who is this? Ronnie, my cap, my, my, my, my cat. So he got seven and a half years for extortion. So he went away. 2006, I went away in 2006, I came home before him in 2010, and he was still serving time,

so I had to control everything for him now while he was gone. Okay. So that's when everything started getting even more pressure on me, you know, and I had to take care of everything from while he was gone, you know. So what happened? What's the, I know this is, I mean, listen, I know these are like novice, like, ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. But let's face it, if you were interviewing me, I'd have to explain about, you know, about, you know, about, you know, what.

It would be like talking Chinese to me. I have no clue, you know what I'm saying? So I was going to say, like, what about the kicking up money? Right. Is that, that's true. But I was in a, I was in a crew. He was a multi-millionaire, but I mean, you still have to give a taste. You know what I mean?

But he really wasn't on that with me. Okay. Other guys were kicking up to him. I was more like his favorite and I did a lot of his dirty work. Right. So I wasn't the biggest earner in his crew, which I still made money. But I brought a lot of sports customers, a lot of loan shot customers. So he was happy with that.

But we had to kick up to Jerry, his cousin. Okay. He was the crew captain, and we would give money. All of us, each Ronnie's guys would give money, and we would give Jerry an envelope. And that's... I was going to say. Yeah, what's up? I'm going to say, extortion on a stockbroker.

Like, how does that... No, firm. The whole firm. So it was a boiler room. Oh, okay. They were extorting a boiler room. Okay. So the guy...

So it was illegal to begin with. Yeah, they all went to jail, too. Right. Like, you guys are running, you're running a boiler room in my area. You have to pay me. or I'll burn your whole plate. They actually went to him because other people were trying to get them. So he's like, all right, well, you give me this much and, you know, I'll take care of it.

So he's a good guy. I'm helping you out. You came to me. And then things started getting violent where, you know, they send Mike Palaccio and the crack guy in there with a phone. They wanted his customers. They started getting, you know. I wrote a story called pain where it's about the pain epidemic, right? The oxycodone epidemic.

Right. And, you know, these guys just start open to pain clinic down the street. And they're all like licensed, legitimate, seemingly. legitimate clinics. Right. And then this guy opened up a clinic two miles down the road from my clinic and he's passing out flyers to my people. And so we're going to go and we're going to smash the windows out. And they, you know, they try and run them out of business. They're driving across the state to burn places down. Like, yeah. So I, you know, I like, I get it. Like, oh, these guys are pulling guns on each other. And it's like, you're, you're, it's a doctor's office.

It's, look, yeah. And when it starts getting involved, people get crazy, you know, I mean, I mean, Ronnie literally would have you killed over his. money. Like, I mean, we beat a guy until he shit himself over his money. And I was his friend for 20 years. I tell that story. Simone, we beat him. He shit his pants. Little shit was in his pants. Right. He thought we were going to kill him. Over a quarter million dollars, we're talking. That's a lot of money. We beat him with brass knuckles. We beat him in his house, put a knife to his neck in front of his family. Give me the fucking loan shock list. Ronnie says you do not leave without that fucking list. That's how we, his money was before everything. Ronnie had a seventh grade

education. Couldn't read a right, but he could make a dollar. Right. He was a wise guy. He knew how to use it. You know, I mean, how to use his power. Well, you know, it's funny because when you could be friends and you could be friends with someone for 10 years. Right. And then suddenly you go into business with them or suddenly you, they lend you 10 grand. And that's probably the first time you really know who that person is. Right. Because when money's involved, you really, really get to know what someone's like. Right. Like, are they concerned about paying me? About, you know, Oh, you know what, I don't have it. You'll be fine.

Fuck you. Yeah. Fuck you. We've been friends 10 years. Yeah. You know, and then I know other people who you're not even like cool with and you lend them $1,000 and they're like, listen, man, I know I'm supposed to pay you today, but here's what's happening. Boom. I'll give it to you tomorrow and they're calling you.

Right. Right. You know, it's like I said, some people are just scumbags. You know, I dealt with a lot of them, you know what I mean, but, you know, for the most part, we always got our money. We make, I mean, he made people sell their homes to pay him. Yeah. Remortaged their homes. seen it all. You know what I mean? Yeah, I don't, I never understood that where people would,

even people borrow from the bank. Oh, well, I didn't realize the interest rate's too high that you agreed to bank these payments. Like, and now you're doing everything to justify not paying. And then when they foreclose on you, you're pissed at the bank. Right. You said you'd make $1,300 a month. What are you doing? Exactly. Um, but the bank doesn't send anybody your house. But still, um, well, no, they do. They do. Eventually, to take their house back. Yeah, they do. They're no different. Just, they send the, just. They send the bank. They send the bank. cops. It's nicer. It's polite. You know, Ronnie taught me something and it stuck with me my whole life. And it justified when we hurt somebody that it's not a civilian, but so for instance, if you want to borrow money, you go to a bank. A bank. If you want to bet, you go to the casino. Right. When you come to us, you're betting and borrowing money off. So whose world are you in? Right. You're in our world now. You're going to pay our consequences. Ronnie goes, they're no longer a civilian because why. They came to us for the money. They want to bet sports with us. So our consequence, you don't pay is we're going to hurt you.

Right. Go to the fucking bank. Right. Because you can't sue. Right. This is, you jumped into our world. No one told you to come into our world and borrow money off us. Right.

You know what I'm saying? So that's how we look. That's how he taught me to look at it. And it was like, even though it's not the right way, but in my brain it was. So I felt like if you didn't pay, you got to get hurt. Right. Well, the bank has, the banking system is set, the system is set up for you to repay the bank. and for the bank to have a, you know, a device to recapture their collateral.

But for when someone goes you, you don't have that. It's like in prison. If prison and you, I have a dispute, you take money from me. Like, I can't sue you. No, I'm going to stab you. Right, right. There's no recourse. I either have to just suck it up.

And now everybody thinks, oh, you can do whatever you want to that, motherfucker. Right. Or you've got to actually do something. Absolutely. You know. Yeah. Yeah, there's no lawsuits. So, okay.

So when you get out, now you're running the whole, you're running the crew for... I'm not running the crew. What I'm doing is making sure his money is being collected and taken care of. So he had a lot of bedbeat list because he was gone. I was gone. He's fighting with other guys in the crew. So he had nobody out there. As soon as I got out, he was so happy.

I met him calling me from his cell phone. He's like, thank God you're out. He goes, I need you out here right now. It's so bad. And I got right to work, you know? Okay. And that was it. I got right to collecting his money and, you know, making sure money was...

coming in again all his money was coming in and this guy was making while he was in prison he was making 30,000 a week in loan money that's just loans right he's making 120,000 a month just off loan sharking okay that's just his weekly money yeah you know this is the kind of operation he has you know what I mean he's one of the biggest Sherlock so and then when the sports business starts running he's making it's unpredictable it could be anywhere from 50 to 300,000 in one month right you know I mean so this guy is making millions of dollars so what we're going to do At any cost, we're going to do anything to protect his money. Right.

And the guys that are bringing in money, he had a main earner named Nicholas Festa, Pudgy. Well, you know, I was good friends with it. You know, he wasn't a tough guy, but he's a big earner, but he was getting abused a lot. And Ronnie was having a fucking heart attack over it, that he kept getting robbed. The guys kept not paying him. Right. So I had to take care of like his stuff too because, you know, Ronnie, you know, he's giving Ronnie 40,000 a month. Right.

So he's like, protect him like my son. I was like, all right, you know, and so I had a lot of work to do, you know what I mean? So I was off up and running. How long until things go? 50 months later. 50 months later. Yeah, I had a 50 month run to the day. And what happens?

Lights out, over. Do not pass go. Do not clock 200. Well, how does that operation start to grab you? Or was it ongoing? It was always ongoing. They locked up Vinnie for the Latonza Heiss in 20, in, um, they lock him up January of 2014. They lock him up with him, the boss of the family, Tommy DeFiori.

They lock him up with his son, Jerry, from moving up. body from a plate from vin killed a guy buried him under a house and his son moved him to another location and he got charged with that and then they locked up jackie captain in our crew they locked up um john rungano another wise guy in the crew for an indictment and the feds were i guess just it sounded that they're gut in the well we had a guy named gasper who was vin's cousin wearing a wire for three years oh okay so he got him on murders and the latanza and you know all this stuff They found the body under a house, and, you know, we thought he had no chance of winning. Right.

He gets found not guilty in all charges. It was the biggest upset in the courtroom history of all time. It was the more media attention than the commission case, the gotty cases that beat out everything. This guy was in the newspaper every day for like two months straight. He beats the case not guilty on all charges. Nobody knows how he won. His son gets seven years, eight years. Jackie gets seven years.

John gets five years. And Tommy the Fury gets like two and a half years. But now they're working. on the younger guys. So they got them, but they're investigating us at the same time. So they're just going from, okay, we got the older guys. Ronnie, now it's our turn. Mike, now they're coming to get the younger guys.

All right. So it's just, so when I got locked up, this is funny. I got locked up in the state. They got me on a state organized crime task force got me. And I remember my lawyer's name was David Guy. And I sat down with him. They gave me a $500,000 bail. and then Florida came and put a fugitive warrant on me.

They had me in Florida for something as well. So they locked me in, I couldn't go in the way. So I remember sitting down with Dave a guy and I go, well, how bad it? He goes, oh, you're fucked. Just like that. Oh, thanks. Okay. He goes, oh, you're fucked.

He goes, this is horrible. This is what? He goes, I've seen an indictment. It's a 15,000 page wiretap indictment. It's all blacked out. You're 2200 of the pages. He goes, this is federal, bro. It goes, you're just holding here.

You're sitting here. You're going over there. He goes, they've been investigating you for years. He goes, you are fucking screwing. He goes, the best thing you could do is talk. I wouldn't do it at first. Right. No.

He goes, that's your best bet. He goes, you're going. He goes, they have you on conspiracies in Florida, the state, federal. He goes, you're looking at a fucking thousand years. I mean, are these conspiracies, are these all like racketeering? Yes, it's going to be. So what they're doing is they're holding me in the state because they're not ready for me in the fed yet.

They're building, they're still investigating because they had another guy in our crew named Ricky Kessler, real tough guy, but he was wearing a wire. Okay. So now they're still working. You're so done. Like you've got on multiple fronts. Oh. And I got all, you know, the federal, I got all violence.

I got racketeering shootings, violence. Like, I don't even know what they had me on. I just know the state had me on. They were just going to give me like seven, eight years in the state. Florida was going to hang me. They were going to give me like 10, 15 years. Consecutive. I had an unrobbing in a jewelry store.

They were going to hang me out there. That's consecutive. Wait, then you go federal. I have like a 17 count indictment, more. It was like 55 counts. But, I mean, out of my charges, I had conspiracy to murder, tempted murder, attempted murder shooting assault

harcins loan shock and gambling it's like something where if I got 30 years I'd be happy you know what I'm saying so I was looking

on an asshole full time and then I never forget it I sat up for like I think it was like 15 months and I never forget this day till I'm dead a white shirt came to see me a captain

right it's a Tuesday there's no visits on Tuesday and she comes up to my cell and he goes Barrello I said what's up you got a visit first of all why are you coming here to tell me you got a visit.

Yeah, this is already. Regular CEOs only come to tell you you got to visit. There's no visit on Tuesday. Right. It looks bad all the way. Anybody looking out their window right now? And I'm a maximum security. I'm in the worst building in Rikers Island, C-95. There's more violence in there than Iraq.

Okay? I mean, that's how bad it is. So I go, what are you talking about? I look at and I go, feds. She goes, I said, you know what? I'm going to fucking go down there because Ronnie wouldn't. I ex him to pay my lawyer. He's jerking me around with the lawyer money.

He's already mad at me for something that we already had. problems that we were actually not friends really anymore. They got my little brother. He's looking at seven, eight years because of me, because I sent them somewhere. And I had a cousin wearing a wire as well on us. Did your cousin got? Frank Nunziata. Did that already happen? Yeah, he already got me jammed up. He wore a wire and he got me jammed up. That's how I had the state case from this kid, Frank Nunziata. He jammed me up and got my little brother jammed up as well. Okay. So now I got all this against me. You know, I got federal, flour, and everything. I go and sit with the feds and they just said it like this to me rob and adam they're like you could look

them up there they they actually like have this famous news article because they walk vin out on the latanza and you just see them next to him was like on the front page so like they're like known FBI banana agents and um I knew right away who they were and um he sat me down he said listen we're letting you know you are indicted basically we're not going to come again like this is it you want you like basically you're never going you're never going to see the street right you want the paper I looked I said

fucking give it to me and I did and I sign and that was it and you could just see like they were like in shock that it went like that

yeah you know I was like all right and then that was it the next time I met them was January of 2016 and I sat

with Nicole Argenteri Lindsay Gerdis Allison Cooley the two agents my lawyer and a state organized crime guy that way

he was only there for that one time for cold case murders and and I sat with them. And I forget it, Nicole, who's now like the Attorney General. She's like huge now from what I'm here. And she's, I got along with them very well, the prosecutors. And she goes, you know how this works. I says, no, I don't. She goes, you're going to tell me every single

thing you ever did in your life. I don't care if you stole a piece of candy. Yeah. And we have to know everything you ever done in your life. You have to tell us, we're going to make sure that real crimes, we're going to look into them. They already know everything. I'm just, I'm just checking the boxes off of it. I mean, but they needed me so much because I was so close to Ronnie. Well, also, by the way, just for clarification, it's better for you, you know, because a lot of people would think, you know, oh, well, you shouldn't tell them everything. No, wait a minute.

You have to. Not just that one, if they find out later you lied, they can, that'll, they won't give anything. And secondly, if, secondly, you want to tell them everything, especially things they don't know because now they don't want to get charged for it. Absolutely. Like, I want to. Right. I don't want to give them any reason to come back on it.

You know, like I know, like, there's a guy out there. And I'm not trying to knock anybody. Like, the guy Ramandi. I know if you ever seen him. He went on Vlad TV. He talks about killing the pope. He talks about murders. He's an asshole.

I hate to say he's like a clown. When you know and how I know how we work, right? When you proffer, you get coverage on things. So you could talk about this stuff. If you do not sit with a prosecutor and sign a contract, you cannot go on TV and go, I kill this guy, shot this guy. The Fed's going to go, okay, go lock him up, please. You know, like, so like I try to explain to people, like, people try to be all they could be on these shows and these things. I'm telling, why don't you sit down, you proffer with these people.

You have to tell them everything you ever did in your life. Right. So if you don't have a proffer agreement, you cannot come on YouTube or TV and talk about murders and all this stuff. You have to have coverage because if they're real crimes, you're going to get a knock at your door. I'm saying? Yeah, especially there's no stash of limitations. No, yeah.

So I sat in the college interior. I got along with her very well. Lindsay Gertis, I dealt with her for like seven years. I got along with her very well. Alison Cooley got switched out for a guy named Keith Dedeman, who he was a total dick. ended up put me back in jail. He was just a dick, like, not cool. I had one of us.

Like, he was just, like, not cool, you know what I mean? But all the rest of them were. Nicole Argenteri now is, like, a real big shot. And she was, like, a known lady to slate a banana crime family. That was, like, her thing. Like, she just prosecuted so many banana guys. Everyone knew who she was, you know what I mean? And I sat with her.

I did everything I had to do. And she goes, you know, I can't promise you nothing. You know how it goes. You're going to cop out to your top charges. I had to go in front of a judge. I had to like explain everything. You know, I maliciously did this and maliciously did that and all these $100 words and, you know, cop out.

And I copped out to these ridiculous guidelines. And then I waited for everyone to be done. And then it came out later on that, you know, my friend Ricky was cooperating. Then there was multiple other cooperators. I was actually the last guy to cooperate. There was actually like 17 total guys cooperating on the case. And then finding out another guy named Ralph had a watch. on he had me on wiretops but we're all cool now it's the past you know is what it is but it turned

out that there was like five wires right i think my mom goes you just didn't know how screwed you are you know what i mean it was like so bad so my best thing was not i would have died in prison basically yeah or came home at 70 something years old so without the reduction right without what would you have gotten so i'll break it down they were going to hit me with a thing called career arms act Career Arms Act means guns. I already was convicted of two guns because I would have a state gun. I had two state guns.

The feds would lock them out for multiple shootings and guns. They were going to career arms act me. Anyone knows what that means there's a 22-year minimum mandatory right there. Mandatory of 22 years just for the Career Arms Act.

Right. I have home invasions. I have armed robberies. I have attempted murders, conspiracy to murder. I'm looking at an asshole full of time in the federal system. I'll probably cop out to,

I'll probably cop out to a gun guideline of 15 to life and with a recommendation of like 25 years. You know how it goes. With a consecutive Florida. Right. With consecutive of state. Remember, this is all separated. So the feds don't get the state to drop the charges? Only because I cooperated. Oh, okay. If I was a co-op. I'm just telling you what I would have got without cooperation. I would have got ping pong. The state would a get, look, the state privacy says, all right, take this five years. Then from the, as I'm doing the five years, they're going to come get me the feds. Now, they're going to give me an asshole full time, but I still got Florida. Yeah. So you're just never getting out.

She's never getting out. You're really just going from one shithole to another. People understand the federal guidelines how bad they are, especially when you start getting Tariko racketeering charges. You know, I remember Lindsay, she goes, Gene, I could give you 22 years just for the Career Arms Act. Just for the Career Arms Act, I can start you off for 22 years, just because my record.

You know, that's how screwed I was. And, you know, I ended up getting along with them very well. The agents actually were really cool. I'm going to be honest you, like, they were like some of the nicest people I've met. Rob and Adam, they were awesome people, man. I got along with them very well. They know the mafia better than me. they know the mafia better than me

the claudiatiri knows the mafia better than me okay that's all I can tell you that's their job that's their life they really know this shit and I end up paying off I did 63 months time served on that I was supposed to do you know forever in a day

and where'd you do that time so I got bounced around at first I was in Rikers I told them listen you gotta get me out of here if I'm doing this you gotta get me the fuck out of here so they put me in New Jersey under a fake name under Joey Russo Okay.

Which I fucked up in there twice. Oh, Oh, someone. No, I knocked the guy's teeth out. Oh. Wait, I knocked his teeth out. I have the scar on my hand still. Knocked his tooth out.

The whole tooth came out. But I split my hand. I caught fucking staff infection. My knuckles broke. Nicole's flipping out. They're flipping out. Then I get into an altercation with a guy in the jail. Hold on that conversation go.

When the FBI goes, what are you doing? No, it wasn't even FBI. They're more understanding. The prosecutors are not. You know what I'm saying? They're not. The FBI is just like, All right, listen, we know it's jail.

It's going to be. Nicole, and I'm not happy about it. Because they were trying to lock me up for it. The kid was trying to press charges. I'm under a fake fucking name. I'm supposed to be there. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying?

So now the water, the only person, only two people in the whole place know who I really am. Right. The warden of the fucking place and like a high-ranking lieutenant. And now they're darn to negotiate with the police. Like, listen, the kid, and I also hit him with a chair. So they're saying, that's assault. What a weapon now.

So now. These bastards. Yeah. So now, and I'm like, this kid's a gangster. Remember, he's trying to press charges, you know, but I knocked his tooth to clean out, and his teeth is out. And they're bugging out, and they have to, they're trying to sit in. No, we're locking him up with fingerprinted.

I'm a long story short, the warning goes, we don't feel in his thing, where they watch the video that it should not be a charge because he came at me as well. Okay. So they kind of took my back. But then it gets worse because then I end up, me and my bunky, we end up getting to altercation with a guy and he drops dead. Just in the cell. He had a heart attack.

From yelling? No, he was on Suboxin. There was like a rumble. I was like a rumble in there. I've had lots of alterations. There was like a rumble in there. And I was in there and my Bunky James was in there. And this kid was in there and he died.

I tried to save him. I listened. I know that happens all the time. Listen, I pumped his chest. I threw water on him. We tried to save him. He died. And they ruled it that he died from Suboxin.

He had a heart attack. Yeah. You know, and the family was protesting around the jail. Hey, look. You can't just... Joey Russo. The fucking... So, and then I'm trying to tell him, like, listen, I was trying to save the kid.

I had nothing to do with killing him. You know what I'm saying? He didn't die from us. And the kid ended up dying of a heart attack. They ruled it of Suboxin. He was on Suboxin. And he dropped dead. Yeah.

This is under my fake name in New Jersey. Okay? So you're saying, I think you should charge, Russo. But I'm leaving. Yeah. And then they put, um, and then they put me in, um, Farrington. New Jersey, Farrington, in the Witsack unit. And then I got to meet all the celebrities.

You just said, like, Floresh twins. I'm like, this guy where Fell Choppel. He's my good friend, Margarito, was my fucking boy, man. I loved him. I was with Frankie, the head of Tijuana Cartel. I was with Teddy DiBatoro. He was the one that killed the chicken man, Philly Tester, with a nail bomb. Anthony Aralado, who we're still friends to this day with.

He was a mob guy at a boss, Mass. He was a captain. A whole bunch of guys were in there. some fucking terrorists that I did not want. I was in there with Abdullah, this motherfucker. A terrorist named Abdullah? Wait, listen. Listen, he's the one and I tried to shoot everybody coming off the subway

in 2009. He actually tried to blow himself up and it wouldn't detonate. He didn't know how to detonate it. Yeah, and I had to... And then he tried saying he's from New York. I had a fucking issue with this. I'm like... Because we had, like, tables, even in there. You know what? And he's like, oh, he says, the New York kid, but I says, no, he don't. He's from New York. He's not from New York. He's not from fucking New York. He said, I don't care what I did in my life. I'm not

sit with no fucking Al-Qaeda, bro. It's not how happening. So I had a whole situation with him. It's like the, it's like the sex offenders when they're trying to hide what they did. They're like, what are you here for? Fraud. Why do you have to pick fraud? Can't you say drugs? Can't you say something like? Right, right. But yeah, I got in this unit. I was in the unit for like three years and then I got sentenced finally and they gave me 63 months, time served. I had the best federal judge in the business. His name is Judge Block. He wrote books. I didn't have this experience, by the way. Listen, I got lucky with this guy. I I'm telling you, he, like, did all my violations.

When the government got mad at me when I got out and they were trying to put me back at jail, he refused. I mean, this guy was literally like, we had the same birthday, June 6th. We both wrote books. He was just a friendly guy. Right. He liked me. My lawyer goes, he just likes you.

There's nothing else I could say. Like, he just thinks that you're not who you used to be. He's not going to fry you. And they wanted me fried the government after I got out on my parole violations. And he refused to. And they were furious. They were wrote an article. Judge Block refuses to put him in.

Like, they were just being like such an. But I went in front of him anyway, and he gave me time served. You let me out. Gave me three years, probation. But I violated so many times. When was this? This was December of 2019, December 6th. Bro.

Yeah. Fuck, I got out in December, in January 19. Okay. So, yeah. I got out months after you. Like, I feel, still feel like I got out. But I went back three times. I did probably like, I did, I did fucking, I did 20 months in violations.

House arrest, restarted probation. Forget it. I was getting tortured on that. shit. I just couldn't do it. Did you contribute to any of these violations? Or they just they're out for it. Because the Johnny and Gene show. When I Johnny and Gene Show came out, they were

fucking furious to build them. Because remember, when I first got out, Johnny Ely it was only Mike Francis and Johnny Ely in the genre. That's all it was. And Johnny Ely had told me was really close to my and Connie. They grew up together. So he's like, when your nephew gets out, tell him to call me. You know what I mean? So when I got out,

I called him, he goes, I'm going to put you on Vlai TV with me. Right. My first interview, I'm just out. I look like a ghost. I looked horrible. I go on sit on Vlad TV and everyone's like, who's this kid? You know, and I got a unique story, modern day. I work for these, you know, big guy and his names. Listen, the big thing, okay, all of that's true.

But the big thing is that unlike most people, when we've had this conversation, which we'll have again in a minute, is that these are the things I did. I was caught. I cooperated. This is the way I always say it is, look, there are those people that are okay with the person I used to be and the things I've done to get here to this place in my life. And they're 100% acceptant of it. And there are those people that can go fuck themselves. And I feel like that's the same thing.

You're like, look, this is who I was. This is what I did. This is where I am now. And, you know, did I cooperate? Did people go to jail? Did I do things? Yeah, I did. But you know what?

I did and fuck you. I didn't want to do fucking life sentence. Go fuck yourself. Isn't it about life sentence. everybody turned on me. You know, I had so many people tell it on me. I was the, listen, and they say, without Ronnie and Vinny, I'm like the target. So people are mad that I got to go home because Ronnie and Vinny. That's why they're mad because I was the guy I was supposed to be doing life in prison. But everybody else is, you know, they're like, what do you

expect? Because I was playing, I was like this, you know, like real bad guy. And everyone's like, oh, he's the only one I know I'll take 30 years. Because, you know, jail didn't phase me. I did it for, I cooperated for all the reasons. And I saved my brother, too. My brother was getting seven years. I got his whole shit thrown away. He didn't do a day because me. My brother didn't cooperate. I just got him out. I said, listen, if you don't drop that gun, that's because of me. I sent him somewhere to do something. And I got this kid jammed up. You got a, he's not doing time. Right. That's it. And I got him no jail time. So, you know, and like I says, yeah, I didn't want to do life in prison. But at the end of the day, they fucked

me over. They turned on me. I asked you to pay my federal, just paid a lawyer. Give me a fighting chance. You're telling me, oh, when it goes federal, I'll pay it. Yeah, okay. Come on, bro. I ain't stupid. I know the game. You're not paying shit. So at the end of the day, I do miss like the people you know sometimes like I think back and I'm like a lot of my close friends I do miss them but now I have like this whole new life with all great friends so it's like I don't even care no more you know oh I miss fraud everybody's like ever think about it every fucking day I think about it right there's not a day I don't go that something doesn't happen I think oh man I did and then I go what are you doing what are you doing I think about

it all the time right and I've reached out to people um It's funny, too, because the people that have, that cooperated against me, like, I talked to all of them, you know? Right. Me too. Me and Ricky Kessler, bro, me and Ricky bullshit all the time. Ricky's a legit tough guy, Kessler. You should have him on the show, actually. He's good. He was a fucking, he robbed the brinkstruck with his bare hands. Tell me how you do that. They took it out of my book. I was so mad. I go, Ricky, I'm sorry. I don't know why this fucking editor took it out the book, but it's going to be in the show. Right. And what we're doing. And Ricky was a hands-on fucking dude, but Vinny hated him, Asaro. hated him with a passion. I just couldn't tell you why he just hated him.

But Ricky cooperated because, like, they all did him dirty. Like, they all treat him like shit. And Ricky was, like, their muscle before I was. You know what I mean? So, me and him talk all the time. I talked to Ralph. He cooperated. He was wearing a wire on me as well.

I talked to him. Frank Nunziata, he won't speak to me. He's terrified of me. And I'm going to tell you why. He's a scumbag. I'm going to tell you why he's a scumbag. Because he did the ultimate grimy shit. Like, like, he, like, he didn't try to hurt me.

He tried to bury me. And this is a guy that I put on and, like, he had nothing. Like, he was, like, a bum. And I made this kid, like, money, you know, things. And he was blatantly, like, lying and setting me up. Like, he put me on the gun sales. I took this personal. This is what they did you bother me.

He put me on gun sales that I never sold a gun in my life. And still to this day, I never sold anybody a gun. You need a gun, I'll give it to you. Right. Gun sales, he put me on. Right. That was fake. So I always had, like, a.

Like, you lied to get me in trouble. Right. Everything I gave was truthful. He was lying and putting me on things that just to save his ass because he was selling drugs with his fucking kid in his arm pulling drugs out of a backpack to an undercover. Yeah, I don't have, like, I don't have a problem telling you every fucking thing I've ever done. Me either, yeah. But if people like, oh, you stole money from this, you've done the, sold money from old people.

What are you talking? Like, bro, I know I'm fucking, I saw him from the bank. They make these things up in their head, bro. Look at the guy, I was locked up with the guy Sam, Bankman, Freed, right? This guy's going to get 100 years. He never heard of fly. Only did we steal money. Right.

I think that's ridiculous. I have a friend of mine that have execution murders with 23 years in the feds. My friend Jerry shot a guy in the head and it was a hit. You got 23 years. Yeah. With a fucking three federal prior cases with three federal bids prior. And you got 23 years. And they're going to give this guy 100 years for stealing money.

We never heard a fly. Yeah. I wrote a book where the two guys that murdered two federal informants, both got 25 years apiece. Yeah. And they're out already. The government is so weird the way they do things. Like, they're more strict with, like, weird.

It's like, like, you kill somebody in the feds, you'll get less time than actually selling drugs or stealing money. Right. It's insane. It doesn't even make sense. You know, the other one that's weird is bank robbery. Like, I can, you, I have no guys. That's 10-year minimum mandatory, though.

But the thing is, they usually get 10 or 12 or 15 years. Well, it's 10 years minimum. You rob 20 banks. Right. Like, to me, you went into a gun and you robbed 20 days. Unless you blow trial, then they'll roof you. Right. You'll get a decent cop out.

But if you blow trial with any of these. charges, they'll give you 100 years. But I'm saying, that seems like 10 years is reasonable. Right. I feel like Sam Baceman, like I said, you get 10 years. 20 years at worst. I was going to say, you know what? Like my prediction was 20 years. No, it's 115 they're looking at right now. His recommendations are 150. And he has the worst judge in the selling district, Kaplan. He's probably the more strictest guy in the business. Yeah, okay. I was going to say, my lawyer has been a lawyer, Nancy Ness, she's been a lawyer 35 years. I says, how bad is he goes, he's all government. He's for the government. So that means like what they're saying,

He's going to go with. You know what I mean? When you have a judge that's for the government or used to be a prosecutor, you're fucked. Right. She, Judge Block was an attorney. Judge Block is a fair guy. He's for, like, the people as well.

He'll do things that the government hates him. The government hates him. He's one of the most hated judges by the government because he goes against them all the time. He released the guy that, it's just because he's not for them always. Most of the federal judges is like they might as well. There's really just an arm of the prosecution, you know? Yeah, they are.

In here? Yeah. In South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia. I would say the state that the state the prosecutors control the courtroom in the state. Yes, they control the whole. The judge is just there. In the feds, the judge kind of controls the courtroom. But like I says, they'll go with the recommendations.

It doesn't even matter. They still go with what they say. But remember, a federal judge is a very powerful person. He could go give you, if you have a- They can't get rid of them. No, no, you can't. They're there to the dead. But I'm saying a federal judge is very powerful.

Yeah. You know, they probably most powerful position in the country. Yeah. It's, it's, it's bad. Yeah. It's like, I knew guys that their judges were in their 80s, and they were wheeling them in in a, in a wheelchair, putting them in. And the judge is sitting there going, what's he here for? And the clerk is going, he's here for bank fraud.

And this is, what does it say, the PSI say? You know, and it's like, they didn't look into it. Yeah, not my judge. He was very sharp. He actually, they would look, he would know everything about you before he went in front of you. He actually used to make jokes that went on my violation. He goes, oh, Borrello, he goes, my freaking flyer. He goes, nobody knows.

He goes, I don't think I know a case better than this one, he'd say, you know, because I was so much drama I have on violations going in front of him so many times. But he just wouldn't, like, really hurt me, you know what I mean? Like, they wanted 60 months, he would just give me, like, five months. He terminated me like seven months. They were furious, you know what I mean? Like, he gave me house arrest. He just wasn't, you know, if I had my judge that was on,

my co-defendants, my lawyer says I was done. Irizara, she gave all my co-defendants over the time they were supposed to get. So she was going over the guideline. So if they were saying four years, she's giving you six. If you're saying seven, she's giving you nine. She gave Ronnie extra like four or five years. Is she, he's still staying within the range? No.

She wasn't staying in his range. No, they only recommended, I think, nine years for him. She gave him like 14. Yeah, she was, she's brutal. She came under Sterling Johnson. They investigated that, um, that. big kingpin back in a day. Frank Lucas, I think it was.

Oh, yeah, yeah. That's like that whole thing. Yeah, yeah. I think that one of them, yeah. So. American gangster. Yeah, so these, you know, these judges, if you get the wrong one, you know. Yeah.

You fought. And he got the wrong one, Sam Bacon. He's got the wrong one. That was it. Okay. I was going to say, how long were you locked up with them and what was he like? Oh, yeah, Bankman, yeah. Yeah, I wasn't when I'm long, I ended up going to the hole from.

Okay. Yeah, and I'm fighting a guy over him. I was stupid. with shit, but, you know, I ended up getting to a fight over him. I was only winning him for a short time. Are people giving him a hard time? No, not a hard time. They were just trying to, like, friendly extort him, I guess, but I was trying to just

tell him, the kid didn't like that I was telling him that it wasn't safe in here, that it was safe in here. He was trying to tell him it's not safe in here. It's a fucking, it's like a, it's like a dropout yard unit. Like, it's like a, it's not dangerous. You understand the problem is that what he just said, you picked up that, friendly extortion? Yeah. That's not a normal term, by the way.

I know for you, you're thinking, like, I understand what you mean, you want to know what that means? Friendly extortion is where, like, the guy kind of buddies up to you. Yeah. And makes it, it's not like he's really saying, hey, pay me this. Right. But he's asking you, hey, man, you think you could get me commissary. And that's, you kind of know. It's friendly extortion.

And he knows that you're timid. You might be nervous. Right. And it's a. And you need friends. Yes. So I'm buying some friendship from guys that will protect me. He came up to me, his little crumb.

And he kept saying, yo, don't tell him it's safe in here. Stop telling him that. I'm like, why would I not tell him that? I'm like, what do you think you're going to get out of him? Like, this guy's facing a million years. He's going to get some wham-wams. Yeah, the kid was chasing K2. And then I was talking to San Bigby, and he called me over.

He was like, yo, don't talk to him no more. I was like, who the fuck you talking to, bro? And he swung at me. And I got him. And I went to the hole. I hit him a hot coffee as well. And I had a 224 assault. They were trying to give me, that's a federal referral.

So I sat in the whole three weeks with a federal referral. I'm going home home September 20th. I'm like, can you imagine I don't go home right now? I was on a max out, day for day. I'm like, can you imagine I got a fucking assault for this little jerk off? And they kicked it back. They never gave it to me, you know?

Do you feel like maybe you've contributed to some of these assaults? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, yeah, I'm the problem, though. I'm like this. I'm cool until I'm not. It's like, that's how I am. I'm friendly.

I'll smile with you. We'll joke around all day. I smile all day. But once you try to embarrass me or cross me, you're going to see another person. Okay. You know, that's just how I am. I'm night and day.

Just we can hang out all day. you would never even know I'm a bad guy until you cross that line or bother my friends or something then you're gonna meet you know it's funny because like you know obviously listen like

I'm not six foot fucking tall you know what I'm saying I'm not six two yeah oh sorry my bad you know I'm not knocking I'm not knocking people out in prison you know or outside

but it's because that's funny I hear the way you're reacting these guys because I've had those conversations I thought gang members my whole life in jail they're strong listen

a lot of these guys I thought I say it. I lost a lot of fights, you know, but I go. And then at one point, I was just pulling weapons out. And I was like, fuck this. I'm not rolling on the floor. But like, to me, like nobody would bother you. But I think what happens is when someone approaches me, like to me, that whole conversation right there where you're like, fuck you, where I'd be like, wait, I don't understand. What's going? What's going on? I stick up for everybody. That's my problem. But I'm saying immediately that guy would be like, what, here's what's going on. Like, I wouldn't have fucking reacted at all in a negative. I would have tried to

try to turn the situation. And most likely would because like, I didn't have any problems. Right. And I'm walking around as a snitch where snitchers are getting beat up. Nobody's bothering me. Right. You know, so, but I could see how there were guys that, you know, listen, there are sex offenders. There were, you know, most of them. 95% of them.

Oh, we were torturing them. Right. But 95% of them are so meek. You know, yeah. But every once in a while, there was this one dude who came in who was like an ex-marine. Yeah. And I mean, he's, so there are guys going to fuck you, you this, you that, bam, knocking them out. And you're like, jeez.

with a lot of guys like that, you know, and also UFC fighters. You have some guys that are pro fighters, not have pro fighters, but they fight and they know how to fight. And these gang members think like, oh, fuck, and they destroy them. Yeah. Because fighting a pro fighter and a brawl, you don't have a chance. You don't have a chance. You know what I'm saying? So I was with, when I was in the state, I was with, I landed in a sex offender jail. It's just because in a state, you get shuffled. I landed in a place called Groveland and 75% of the population with sex offenders. I'm 23 years old. I'm wild as could be. I'm not. It's a bad situation. Oh, I got kicked. I didn't make it in that jail. I'm saying we terrorized them. But it was such horrific charges. I mean, I couldn't even sleep at night. Some of the charges were so bad. So, I mean, child mutilation.

I mean, just crazy shit where I'm like, I'm going to kill this guy. We were throwing hot water on them when they were sleeping. We were torturing them. You know what I mean? But the state, what you end up going to prison for for that in the state, the state charges are horrific. Like, these guys grabbed somebody. They grabbed a kid. Oh, yeah.

In the feds, like, they looked at pictures. Not that it's okay. But this is a meek guy that couldn't even do what his fantasies are asking him to do. He just looked at some pictures and got five years, you know? So that's the Fed. So it's like they're not going to be a problem, but the guys in the state, the go to the state are horrific crimes. I ended up with, so when I got in my last violation, I did my eight months, I was in a unit now they're making, it's called Four North. It's a whole bunch of high profile people, you know what I'm saying?

So I ended up with this fucking, this cop, and he was NYPD. he, nice kid, but he ended up having that. He actually was in population hiding the whole time, but his case was about to go on the news. And he was a cop and he's got a pedophile. But he wasn't a pedophile. He had pictures, but he was cross-state lines talking the girls in the age. They're giving his kid 30 years.

Wait, he had like a hundred counts. And I ended up with him. And I had no idea he was that until like it came out. I was like, wow, I was like, what the fuck? I was like, this guy's the NYPD cop. they give because he was a cop doing that his guideline was 15 to 30 years i think they recommended the high end at that you know i'm saying position of trust yeah but uh you know and he didn't touch any of them i i mean he was only 20 years all the time the kids were like the

girls like 15 he didn't touch them but he's getting like 30 years it's they're very which i don't you know listen you're a sex offender i want them to be killed you know i'm saying i want them to die but i'm saying i think that was a little ridiculous because he was 20 they were like 15 16 but i think they were exchanging pitchers, something like that. And he had like a hundred counts, though. So maybe he was a little sick, you know what I'm saying? But they're giving him like murder, like he got a body. You know what I mean?

He landed up a lot of these guys. I was with the rap of Fetti Wop. I was with, I became really good friends with him. I was with the Attorney General of Mexico. Right. The president of Honduras. I said, what the fuck you doing? He had the president of Honduras.

You know what I mean? The guy that hit the cop and head with the machete. He was pretending in Manhattan, New Year's Eve. He chopped the cop in the head with the machete. Fuck. I was calling him machete every time he walked past. It's a kid, Tom. He was harmless.

They said, he's not that harmless. He was schizophrenic, though. They're giving him 100 years. Cop didn't even die. They're going to give him, like, a hundred years. Yeah. So you get a group of these, you know, high-profile people, and then you get Sam Bankman walked in there, you know, like on the Forbes list.

There's, like, worth, like, 20 billionaire. Everyone's going crazy. Like, oh, my God, he's a billionaire. Talk to him. He's like a fucking weird guy, though. Yeah, yeah. He's, he's, he's, there's something up. He's, he's definitely on, definitely autistic or something. He's off. Yeah. He told me he was making a million dollars a day, legit. I listen to that. After FTX, you know, collapsed. Like, who knows what you can believe, you know? Maybe he is, you know. But, I don't think nothing's going to help him any.

So, so you moved to Florida. Yeah, I went, well, I went down there. I was going back and forth. I was just, um, being bad. And I went down to Florida and, you know, doing bad things and then. And then you started the, the, um, oh, you took them out now. Yeah. Oh, you meant when I was on Florida go. I was in Florida. In 2014, I was just bad.

Now I moved down to Florida. Yeah, I'm doing, you know, good things, yeah. You're doing the John and Gene show? Not in Florida. I was living in New York. Oh, okay. When I first got out, my first guy, I went back to my own neighborhood. Right.

But, but, but, but John A. Light's down here, right? No. He didn't live down here? New Jersey. Oh, it's Mike, oh, come on. Dowd. Mike Dowd lives here. Yeah, he lives in Florida.

Yeah. Is John coming back here? Yeah, he always comes back and forth. Okay. But he's more in Jersey. He has a house in Jersey. So you guys were doing the show. We were doing the show.

I was living in New York. How did that stop? Like, why did that stop? The government. I understand. Violet. Does your PO come to you and say, what are you doing? Or they just come arrest you?

No, I got, because, no. I screwed up, too. I threatened to kill someone. I messed up That's what happened But they were waiting for an excuse Because they wanted me off the air And when they did this

They basically violated me for that But they really violated me for the giant jean show They gave me stipulations that you couldn't imagine Like 50 of them No organized crime talking No this, they gave me so many rules To keep me off that show Because they waited for the slip up

I slipped up And they used that as an excuse to ban me From the internet, no Instagram, know this No that, no this I was like fuck you I'm doing that shit still I wouldn't even listen to them. Right.

I was like, you're just being haters. I'm like, fuck you. You know what I mean? Literally. I told him like, fuck you. Like, I'm not, I did not listen to anything they told me to do. Yeah, the, when you're saying the John, I was going to say, I've been doing this the whole time. I walked out of jail.

I did four months, six months house arrest, and I went back on to you started doing shows. I says, fuck you. I'm listening to none of this shit. They violated me two weeks after I got out on new violations for going on doing podcasts. I'm not listening to you. You're not going to tell me that I can't. First, they try to say I couldn't write a book. Right.

Then my lawyer says, no, the Cohen Act, when, remember he wrote the book on Trump, they had to release him. You can't do that. Right. You know what I mean? And honestly, you know, you can't keep me from talking on what's essentially a news program. It wasn't my prosecutors. It was his dickhead. Keith Edelman, he's a fucking dickhead.

He was just thought he was like this fucking big chief now, big shot. He just kept on like coming at me. I don't know what it was. Lindsay Gartis would never have done that to me. I got along or well. Nicole, neither. They, not I say they were favoritism me, but they just weren't. This guy was just doing too much, man.

And he just kept on coming at me, coming at me. And, you know, that's, and I wouldn't listen to him. Like so many people, they, they, you know, me, go to prison. Like, when I was in prison, when I was in prison, all the other con men or fraudsters, whatever you want to call them, right? You know, they're in there going, you know, trying to cover up. Like, how am I going to hide the stuff that's on the internet about me? How am I going to restart my life?

How am I going to basically get rid of this stuff so I can restart my life? Right. And what am I going to do? I'm going to sell cars, maybe. I can go to work here. Maybe I can eventually become a general contract. Like, they're trying to bury all this and move on. And I was like the only guy in there that was saying, fuck it, I'm leaning into it.

I don't give a shit. I'm never going to shy away. I'm going to tell anybody that fucking wants to hear it. I'm not going to, I'm just like, I don't give a fuck because my happiness is not dependent on how you feel about me. Right. So, and people say that, but a lot of times it doesn't happen. And I, you know, got out of prison, got out of halfway house.

moved into someone's spare room, kept writing, started a podcast, did the whole thing. Just stuck with that because it was the first time I was getting out of my, it was the first time of my life where I didn't have $10,000 a month in bills. Right. And I could start with nothing, which was, you know, was great, actually, because I have no bills. So, and then I, you know, started making an effort to actually get something done. And I've got multiple stories and I've really busted my ass to try and get those stories up and running.

Right. So that's why I'm saying, like, you get out of prison. Right. Like, honestly, like, I don't know if it was. I took off like a rocket ship. Right. Like, and a lot of people, they get out and they're going to do that. Yeah.

And it just doesn't. It's not that they don't mean to. It's not that they don't try, but sometimes life happens and they can't follow through with it. I'll tell you funny, when I was being sentenced, right, before you go see the judge, you sit in, you sit in the back. Yeah. Um, with the prosecutors. And now my prosecutor in the calgatoria wasn't a prosecutor no more. She was a lawyer now.

She switched over to become a big lawyer, whatever. And she sat and she goes, gee, when you get it. out you know what you should do you should be a mafia commentator like a mafia she goes because you know so much she knew me very well and she it's so funny she she said not with a light though she want to by yourself because it's a violation you got to follow probation rules but she told me she says you should this is what you should go into because i knew so i was so involved i was for the modern day i was like that guy you know i'm saying like the crimes i was committing was like old school stuff nobody was doing that no more really right so i'm doing i'm like an old school new school guy and

I'm with all this modern day. We dress different. We act different. But I was doing old school shit. So I'm the only one with that. So when I came out and I got on the Johnny with John Eli and started doing these interviews, and I'm talking about shootings and things like that and crazy shit, they're like, wow, that still goes on them up.

Well, we did it. I'm the only one that really got it. So I took off like a rocket ship. When the Johnny Gene Show came out, I had an idea with Johnny. He says, let's get guests. Let's start putting other cooperators on here. Right. And that's when it really started taking off.

And then Sammy Gavano was supposed to come on our show first. but then him and Eli got into an altercation. Other than that, and I went on a parole violation. Other than that, Sammy was coming on. I used to talk to Sammy's son all the time, Gerard. I was getting Sammy on Johnny Gene show. And I went away, and when I came out, everybody's fighting with each other. It's like just whole mall.

Now it's like just everyone's out there. It's like everyone's fighting with each other. I was like, what the fuck? Yeah, YouTube was. And then, you know, like I says, my name, my Instagram following is real. I have a huge Instagram. You know, I get thousands of messages. I get, I started getting a fan base all over the world.

And they bothered the government. right they wanted me to go live on a farm and like of course they want you to work at Walmart they want you to work in the warehouse at Walmart well and they know on the agents you say you know you had an easy life jean you party mostly your life you know you made easy money you know I'm saying you know go work for it now and they realized I wasn't working for it again you know and then I'm getting into all this like you know so stuff so when somebody because let's face it like when I went to prison like I'm I'm I'm low profile I'm I got fake identities nobody knows who I am nobody's reaching out to me nobody you know

because obviously I'm trying to commit my fraud and nobody's looking at me. But then you get out, you do a few podcasts. Those podcasts get a few million. Right. You know, people are sending you messages. Like to me, they're sending me messages. I don't know what you're getting. You know, you're amazing, bro.

Your story's amazing. Oh my God, it's got to be a movie. You know, you're inspirational. And it's like at first, like, how did you feel when you, that first week when those start coming in, what is your thought? Because I didn't. I was like, it's happening. I went on Instagram and every time I'd look,

it'd go up like a thousand people. I'm like, what the fuck? I'm like, it just comes, boom, boom, boom, because I started looking me up and I guess my Instagram is on my, on my, on my Wikipedia now. I have like a Wikipedia. So like, now I'm starting Instagram

and I'm just looking at it and I'm like, every fucking week it's going up like 2,000, 3,000 people. Right. I'm like, oh shit, this is getting serious. And then I started getting the DMs. We want you on our show. Not you're on your show.

Just like, yo, I love your shit. Modern day. No one has that. We always hear. about the old stuff. You're the new guy. I can relate to you. I'm in your age.

Then you start getting people like, oh, I'm from there. Remember we were together? Da, da, da, da, and it just starts becoming like, everybody wants to watch you and, you know, be in touch with you. And, you know, and then it got like crazy, you know, autographing things.

And then my book came out and it sold thousands of fucking copies, you know. How did the book come out? Like, did you, did somebody approach you? I wrote it in jail. Okay. So that was my plan originally, write a book. Right.

I did it with the guy, Teddy Di Batoro. He was a hitman for the first. Philadelphia mob, actually. The guy to blow up the chicken man. He put the nail bomb under his stoop, they blew him up. And, yeah, this guy, yeah. I don't know who the chicken man is. He was the boss of Philadelphia.

Okay. And they blew him up with a nail bomb. And I was with the guy that made it and did it. And, uh, yeah, it was like, you could look it up. It literally took out the whole first floor of his house. So he, it was, it leveled the whole fuck. They said the whole block shook. That's how, yeah, so I was with him.

So he wasn't fucking around. He's actually a very smart guy out. He actually helped me. He sat on me every day with a typewriter. He's a life for. They fucked him. He got life anyway. He did blow up a building.

Well, no, I'm saying, yeah. But, you know, yeah, but he cooperated and he got screwed. That's what I'm saying. Philly had a bad cooperation thing, whatever, at the time. He got screwed. But he sat me every day with a typewriter, and we sat every day for like two hours a day, and we went through the whole thing. And we took me like a year almost to do it.

And then we had the thing, 350 pages, made it. And I came home. I hooked up with a family friend named Louis Romano. And then he sat with me, same. thing. We went over it. And my cover of the book, I picked that. And everyone said, no, it's not going to work. That was the gold mine. The cover, everyone says that was genius. You know, the faces, the welcome to Howard Beach sign, the people love the cover. And it attracted a lot of attention. And when I came out with it, it sold, I think I have a bestseller. It's a

bestseller. It sold over 10,000 copies. Autograph copies I sell to my Instagram. I sold hundreds of them. Hundreds. Hundreds of them. Right. Isn't that weird? You don't think, you know, like, to me, I thought it was so weird when people like, they're asking to meet me to get a picture of me with the book and sign the book. And I'm thinking, are you like, like, are you serious? Like, that felt so weird to me. It's a good. It's a good feeling of because now I was talking the kids at a suicide. I had a kid that was trying to kill himself in California. He looked up to me. I talked him out of suicide. See, the government didn't want to talk about that stuff. I was talking

people out of rehabs. I was talking to kids that could relate to me. Like, yo, I feel like I can relate to you at my age. Right. Because all these other guys were old, you know what I'm saying? Frantis is 70, Johnny Elyt's in his 60s, all these guys that were out were old on their generation. Right. The way I dress, you know what I'm saying. So that was what I had. And that's why I blew up so fast.

And nobody can understand. Why is this kid so watched? Why is it? He wasn't a high rank. I was just a wild kid with some big names, but they just loved me. Right. My charisma, everything. And the women, they really love me.

That's a bad. Oh, my God. yeah that's you know well so all right so you get out yeah you just got back out right from your violation right so um and and like you said everything's going going next though and i did a podcast the other day with um with wade williams or what did he called hollywood wait uh with uh wade and and we it's funny too because like i don't really know anything about this like i i knew i knew merlino was out, right? Like, I had told you that I'd met him in, in prison, and I actually ate with him a few times. And I, um, so I had, I knew he was out and I knew, I found out he was, had started a channel

because, just because Wade said he started a channel, you know, and so I was like, okay. And then he, Wade sent me a couple of things where he was, you know, talking shit, calling this guy a rat, this guy a rat. And I watched it. He's like, bro, we should do a show on this. And I was like, okay so we i watched it and we did a show and i was already talking to you because pedge had said you know this guy when i did pedge's thing or was it before that i think it was i want to say it was pedd before he even got here he said you know he goes you know there this guy jean um berello is i said it right borrella he said is in i think he said st pete but is in tampa and and i was like oh okay so somebody gave me your thing we had already talked once or twice but you know

you're all over the fucking place. Yeah. And I had an ankle monitor. You had an ankle monitor. Yeah, we scheduled a thing and the day before you, you couldn't come. And I was like, did you?

I was like, ah, bro, it's just, it's just outside of the county. You're like, they're not fucking around, bro. I'm not doing it. I was like, oh. They put me right in. Yeah.

You know, you know, you know what's funny about that with the whole Joey Molino situation is that he says he's talking for the good guys. The good guys are looking at him like you're not a good guy no more. You're on YouTube. You're on the internet.

Don't talk for us. This is a secret society. aren't good guys. Listen, he's broke. He's trying to make money. I understand, you know, whatever. But he came at me, my friends, and they call me the 50 cent of this genre.

I am a foul-mouthed, disrespectful guy. I don't care about who you are, what your title is. I used to rob gangsters. I don't look at you any different. To me, you're the boss of Philly. You're a peon. I'm being honest with you.

That's how we look at Philly. There's 17 guys, members. We have that in one neighborhood. You know what I'm saying? We look down upon the Philadelphia mob. You know, New York is the elite. You take our scraps. You're like, you have to answer to us.

So you're a boss. You're really like a soldier and a family. That's all you really are. You know what I mean? So I don't look at him, nothing special. You know what I mean? To me, he's nothing. And if he ever ran into me and got disrespectful,

I would fucking crack him in two seconds. Why do you, yeah? What I'm saying is, why do you think, do you just think mentally he's just not capable of being? He's 62 years old. He's 5'4. He's 130 pounds.

Am I really going to be like, oh my God, it's Joey Marlino? I'm so scared. Like, I don't give a fuck about you. Yeah, but why not, why do you think he didn't just go on? He could have gone on and just interviewed people and been polite and nice. Because he knows, because, listen, he's not a dummy. He wants to, what sells in his business is controversy.

I was going to get to why people really like me. Because controversy, I'm very, say what I want, be disrespectful. That's what people love. They don't want to hear about, oh, you know, I'm in politics now and I'm doing this. They don't want to hear that shit. They don't want to hear about the shoot. They want to hear the crazy stuff. They want to hear arguing with people and doing this.

So he knew that. so he wanted to become out like I'm talking for the good guys fuck these guys he tried to embarrass Mike francis right Mike he's talked bad about sunny francis when I tell you that's like Jesus Christ in the mafia right for him saying that it was like so corny like you just trust he didn't really have a respect for anybody I mean I've spent time like I've spent time sitting at a table with him and for an hour for an hour and a half straight he did nothing but fucking just negative bullshit talking shit about every fucking person I had them so mad because I put a picture of him in a Cinderella right that snuff messaged me on instagram and he sent up christmas card and they got my signature off the internet and made it like i sent them a christmas card right i said listen you fat little fuck i would never send you anything i said okay i said i said i said you better stop thinking you're like tough because of jerry malino like you're not you know i mean i'm not just all this you bump it to me and try some i'll slap the fuck out of you like it's not going to be what you think i don't know these little fake stories you hear like i'm hands on like don't disrespect me

you're not going to come and abuse me it's never happened in my life it's not going to happen now. So you're going to come at me, Jerry Molino, think you're like this big tough guy. I'm going to embarrass the shit out of you. Okay, I'm going to say things that you've never been heard before in your life that I'm going to tell you. And I'm doing it now. Nobody's coming at him. Only me. Right. I'm talking about his wife. Everything you want to get, I'm going to get brutal. I'm going to get brutal. And I'm going to make you not want to be in YouTube no more. He doesn't. He don't because of what I said. They can say whatever they want. I chased him off that internet because I said something that hurt his feelings really bad. You're not a

respected boss when everyone's banging your wife while you're in jail bottom line nobody respects you okay that's just what it is if people respect and fear you they wouldn't even look at your wife okay you got the whole state of philadelphia going after while you're in jail how much respect and fear are you think about that if somebody fears you and respects you why would they do something like that obviously they don't right yeah that's how i look at it so he's moved he's he's said he's moving they're moving their platform to um patreon yeah the other day they put something on TikTok, which is the best one. Who else could do it like we do it? They're in a, they're in a, you Uber going to a Dolphins game. Oh, oh my God. Wow, you're bowling. You're killing it out

there. Let me tell you. You went to a Dolphins game. All right. Wow. And a Uber. All right. Yeah. I mean, I know. They're bawling. I mean, it's so funny as all of his fanboys. Like, they started leaving comments on my shit. And they're all like, you know, because I had said that, look, I mean, I personally know that like, he doesn't have any money. No, he don't. He just doesn't He doesn't. Like, they're like, oh, he's driving this. I'm like, no, he's not. He's driving somebody else's vehicle.

You know how many messages I get from people in Philadelphia give me dirt on him? A guy from Philly sent me the picture of him in that dress. They hate him over there. They give me things to talk about him about. They like, yo, bro, you love that you abuse this guy. He's a fucking asshole. They can't stand him over there. That's all persona.

You know what I'm saying? So I think it's hysterical, but he picked the wrong guy. With me, I'll never stop. I'm relentless. They know that. I'll never stop. Like, literally, I'll never stop. Like, you're going to have to just,

don't say nothing no more because I will just keep going. This is fun to me. I love drama. I love beef. Let's go. Let's keep doing it. Let's keep doing it.

It don't matter to me. So when he came at Mike Francise, that was a low blow because Mike Frantzsche's was trying to be like classy about it. And like, hey, listen, you're in this world now. Come sit with me. And he's like, oh, I don't, never go on this fucking rat show. Bro, you're on the fucking internet telling stories to it, bro.

Like, shut the fuck up. You're not even recognize no more. Like, give it a break, bro. Yeah, I was talking to Tom a couple, yeah, well, actually yesterday, and it was, it's the same thing like, look, it's, you know, and we talk about this is that like, it's dead. Like they crushed it. Like you said, I said it basically the mob now is like a boutique street game. Yeah. You know, so, you know. Like I said, look, we call it the last hurrah.

It cut off in like the 2000s, like 2014, 16, I want to say like it's completely like washed up. And these guys are, they're milking the last, they're getting the last drop out of it by going on YouTube, telling our stories. And I, listen, and I get it, like, you know, it's money. You want to tell your stories. Listen, I'm, you know, I make a living just telling stories and interviewing. Like, it's a good living. It's a good living. I'm catching in.

Right. I'm going to be honest with you. People, like, took such a liking into my book and everything about me and my whole life being related. I was like the perfect storm almost. I'm related to a high profile gangster. I work for a high profile gangster. my cousin was a fucking nut coming up, all my friends related,

and then I came out with this book for the modern day and it grabbed the attention of some actors and people and, you know, it's not just talk. Now it's like producers are all like this. Right.

And I mean, not just one producer, not five producers, like 15 fucking producers. Everyone's just like, all right, when's this happening? We got money to give. Like, we want this to happen.

So I'm working on a modern day sopranos. Yeah, I was just going to say this. So, you know, it's what had such a long run and was like an amazing series. I'm sure they're looking for something else since then. People think I'm dumb. I think I'm just this dumb street guy because I have, you know, maybe I talk differently, whatever.

I'm actually kind of smart. I had this plan going for a couple of years, but I kept getting delayed. And I had this idea and I kept saying nobody has this. Everyone talks about the 70s, the 80s, the 60s. What happened in the 90s, the 2000s? I got all the stories. I got everything. So I put it together.

I'm putting a pilot together. And it's going to be about the hey day. of the 90s and the 2000s. And it's going to be about all names that everyone knows and neighborhood things and it's going to be like a TV show. And it's going to be fucking good. You know what I mean?

And people are going to go crazy over it. And it's going to be on a big platform, not in a little platform. We're talking possibly HBO, Netflix, something in that nature where it's not going to be some little bullshit show. It's going to be something big.

All right. When is this? So it's literally, I just literally am signing like things now. And we're working on the pilot and they're trying to film by June, like get things rolling, not saying on the, on the, on the, that platform, but to get the episodes actually rolling. Right. And, you know, I'm going to be controlling a lot of it. You know, I want to make it real as possible.

I don't want it to look like Gravesend. That's what I don't want it to look like. You know, it's not going to be no $3 show. I want it to be real deal, you know, make an actor to play you? Or are they looking? We're looking. Everyone's, you know, like I says, it's going to be, I'm going to use, like, street guys. Right.

A lot of the guys that I'm going to be using are going to be guys that were in the street. Yeah. Actually, street dudes. I'm not using, there's going to be actors, but I'm going to more or less use guys that were actually getting busy. They actually could just do this generally. Yeah. Like, you know, me just being myself. And I'm trying to think what, there was a movie where they, because, you know, that there are, like, L.A.

Street guys that are L.A. gangsters or former gangsters are actually, like, extras. that sign up to be extras. Yeah. All the time. So you'll see these guys in the background as a part of the crew who really did like 14, 15 years and really, you know, been in out.

Well, that makes it look so authentic. Yeah, because you... And that's what I want. Don't get me wrong. We're going to... There's going to be actors, but like, for the most part, I want people involved in this

that actually can just be themselves and make it look genuine. And I have... And people know about the show and people are reaching out to me like, yo, I want to be a part of this. Right. And I'm talking about they were some tough dudes.

I'm talking about some tough dudes. Like, Oh, come on, man, let's do this. You know what I mean? I'm like, listen, when it gets rolling, I got to put you in front of people and, you know, see how it looks on cat, you know, and everything. And this is really going to happen, you know what I'm saying? How much, think about it.

How much does that pull people in when they're able to say, you know, hey, that's John Aylite. Hey, that's so-and-so. So, you know, even if it's just a bit, even if it's just a bit part. He's on for two episodes. He's got a small thing. Right. Even that, now you've got his fan base going and watching. Well, that's what they're starting to say, like, my fan base is big.

So, like, I play around on TikTok. I play around. I have, like, over a million views in, like, a month. I play around. They just attracted to my stories, you know what I'm saying? People love to hear me talk and the way I act. And I have a fan base that when this show comes out, it's going to follow right into it. You know what I mean?

So it's going to be a goal mind. And they all believe in it, everyone that's a part of it. So. Well, that's cool. Yeah. I still think you got to start a podcast, too. Yeah, I know. You got to parlay this into a podcast.

Me and Johnny, like I says, we're going to start doing some things again together. We're going to be sitting down together and, you know, doing it. But there's a whole slew of people that hate A-Light. Just hate them. And I, here's the funny thing is, is like, I like him. Like, I've always had a good, I've always had good conversations. He's always been polite.

He's always been nice. Me and him were going into restaurants in Brooklyn, okay, doing a John Gene show. We were going to Peter Lugas where people hang out all the time. We didn't give a fuck. We were going all over. We didn't care. It's like, we don't give a shit. Like, you ain't doing nothing.

like go live your little lives like we don't care we're filming in brooklyn we're filming in queens we didn't care we were going wherever we wanted restaurants Howard beach I didn't care like I don't you know I mean so it's not that error for that no more you know you don't have a hit squad these guys ain't busting graves here for them you know what am I'm saying so what am I worried about you were sending me to do all the violence listen I yeah I'm not here you're not there I'm not a blood or a cripple I got to worry about them coming by with machine guns you know like those gang members are still bad you know I'm saying that's different The mob is washed up, you know?

So, like, now I'm just making money off my prior life, and I have the goods. And, you know, I'm cash in on it. I'm going to fuck. That's it. But, um... I started a question to clarify. So, Joey Marlino, they're not doing YouTube anymore? I think he's back on it already.

Yeah, he... So what happened was, like, a week ago, he came out, which would probably be a couple weeks when this comes out, but he came out on Instagram and they did, I want to say they did a video where Merlino basically said that he's been black, not black balled, he's been, he's been shadow videos. Right. I didn't even look. Honestly, I, he's, he, well, you know what you're saying is like, oh, I can't, you can't cuss. They're getting demonetized. They're, okay, well, my videos get demonetized. You know what he's doing? He wants everyone to go to Patreon so you can make money. He's going to charge $15 a person. He wants everyone to go watch him on there so he can make

money. It's all a fucking scam. He's back on YouTube, I heard already, but he does not like the things I'm saying. I already know for a fact I got word that he's, like, bugging out over the things that I'm saying, because I guess he never heard this stuff before in his life. But I'm going to say those things, you surround yourself with, yes, Ben, you never really get the truth. I don't really give a fuck. I'll tell him, I'll tell him to his face. I don't care. It's if you're going to play this game, we can play this game. I don't care old. All these other guys, they're older. I'm 39 years old. You know what I mean? You're 62 years old. You're 5'4. You think I really care about you? Like, honestly,

like, I'm really worried about you. Like, I'm fighting, I just, the other day, a situation, and I fought a bouncer. He looked like a fucking car. Do I really care about like, you know, you know what I mean? It's like, come on. You know? Not worried about it. So Marlino is what he's saying is he's saying that he wants to get off.

And then he was going to move everything and say, I'm going to, we're going to go to Patreon. Here's a problem. It's hard to build a Patreon, you know? So hard. Huh? So, yeah, exactly. So I, and I think what's happening is that whoever's running, and you could tell just the quality, whoever's running that YouTube channel

like the audio sucks the doing them you know if you want to do if you want to do a video in a restaurant setting it's got to be closed yeah you either have to have amazing mics two or three mics like you've got to really have it set up

they're not doing it they're not doing it correctly some of their interviews they can't even put them up they got to take them back down they're so bad even when it's just them quiet the audio sucks the video is not great you know he's not he doesn't present himself well He wants to talk about sports betting.

Nobody gives a fuck about it. Bro, he's never want to bet. Right. He has a whore. I've heard that from everybody across the board. He owes every bookie money. I talk to people over there. He says he owes everybody money.

He's the worst bet. He's giving picks. He's nothing but lose. It's true. Yes. I've never heard of anybody. Yeah. And then he got his little partner over there, snuff.

He's so annoying, that little guy. Marmalina! I'm like, where they get this? He's a used car salesman or something like that. He's like, you get this guy. Right. You know, so like I said, you know, he picked the wrong beef because, like I says, I won't stop. I mean, if they want to keep going, I'll just keep going.

I mean, listen, I mean, to me, it's funny because I know they ain't going to do shit. Aside from, aside from that, if he did it correctly, right, he could have a good channel. But he's mentally, look, mentally, and, you know, you've been in our prison, bro. Right. And you've dealt with, you've dealt with people that you know, they're on the fringes of society, and you know, you're looking at the guy like, there's a, there's a situation, and he's handling it absolutely the wrong way. Right. And some people are just mentally not capable of making a decision in their best interest. And honestly, that's Merlino.

Right. He can't seem, it's like, this is all you have to do. It's not difficult. You'll make $40,000 a month in a year. He can't do it. No. He's not. He's broke right now.

I heard from several people. And he's going to stay broke. With his attitude, he's going to stay broke. Right. You know, I get the controversy. That's fine. Do the audio correctly. Interview some people.

Like, you can still pull this off. He's not able, mentally, he's not able to do it. think he's also getting a lot of backlash. Well, let's think about this, for instance. And I'll break it down for you. And I said, this is somebody the other day. And they're like, wow. Think about you and Jory Milino's crew. Right. And you're on a case with him. And you're like, I look up to Joey, man. Fucking, that's my guy. I'm going to take this 30 years. I'm going to take this 20 years. Hold on. Okay? All of a sudden, you're in the feds laying down. Hey, bro, your boss is on YouTube in a fucking Cinderella dress. Right. What the fuck is going on

right now? What? Joey's on YouTube? What the fuck I take this time for? Wow, I'm over yeah, this is my guy, I look up to this guy, he's a fucking joke. Think about how guys feel I took time for this guy when he was the boss. Think about that. I told somebody that, they're like, wow. I said, yeah, think about guys that took time for this guy. And now he's on, he's on Cinderbred. This guy's a clown now. This guy's a clown now.

I'm serving time now in prison for this guy. I held it down for this guy and this is what he's doing, making fools out of us. Everybody in the feds is making fun of him. You know, he's on YouTube. He's talking like, this is like, I'm a joke. I'll cruise a joke. So think about that. So I'm sure people are fucking furious.

that did time for him or doing time for him right now. You know? A lot of time for him. Yeah, absolutely. They're probably fucking bugging out. Like, I took time for this joke. He's on the fucking internet. He's putting up stupid things and all this shit.

I'm calling. He's not putting no money on my books. Yeah, you're not going to be furious right now with him. You know, he's not going to say that, but I know the other world. I know how it works. New York ain't going to recognize him. He'll never be able to sit at a table with a wise guy and have a sit down for anybody. They'll tell him, get this asshole out of here.

Straight up. I know the game. Right. No captain. No respected captain is going to sit with a guy doing shows. It's not happening. I go, fuck what anyone tells me. I sat with the best.

It's not happening. My video, Vinnie and Sial, tell him, get this asshole out. I don't even recognize you. That's how we talk. You know what I mean? So, you know, he could say what he wants to people from Kentucky and California that watch him and, you know, Louisiana. They don't have a clue, but, you know, we know how it works. So right now you've got a huge Instagram presence.

Yeah. You're doing podcasts. and you got the book out. Best sell them. Yeah, what we'll do is we'll leave links to, you know, in the description box, we'll leave links to all that stuff, you know? Yeah.

And anything else? No. Anybody else you want to, anyone who bash? No. Are you sure? We can go back to Marlena. No, I, um. You want to give me a copy of the dress of the picture of the dress.

I can put it up on the screen. You know, like I said, I, you know, I'm just going to have fun. I'm happy everything. The way everything turned out for me right now, I'm loving it. Yeah, bro. You got to, you got to know, you've got to know, you're blessed. bro. Yeah. A lot of things have lined up. Like, you know, I mean, look, and part of that, I'm sure, you know, I know you feel like, hey, this part of that is, oh, it's by design. Lots of people have designs. Like there's, like, lots of people go out. Like, it's, it's a lot of it is planning, you know, an execution, and it's some luck. Like, you got to be realized, like, you're blessed to be in the position you're in. It could have gone bad. A lot of people I talk to, you know what they say also? I have the it fact. I just have that. Yeah. That correct. I said. I said you have the luck. I got lucky. I just got lucky with that. And maybe this is what I was meant to be. You know what I mean? So like it is what it is. I'm happy about it. I feel like I'm about to take off. I'm finally off probation. They can't control me no more. They were torturing me with everything. Now I'm free. That's it. I'm like a rocket ship. I'm just going on up. That's it.

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