'Skinny Joey' summoned to federal court Friday for key hearing

Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino has been summoned to federal court Friday for a hearing that could end up with his returning to prison.

Federal prosecutors said the reputed former boss of the Philadelphia mob violated the conditions of his supervised release by meeting with fellow mobsters in the Miami area. The 52-year-old Merlino spent more than a decade in prison for a 2001 racketeering conviction.

Defense attorneys have said he had only a "chance encounter" with a former codefendant at a cigar bar in Boca Raton. They tried to knock down the issue down from the start, arguing that prosecutors failed to file the right paperwork before Merlino's three years' supervised release expired on Sept. 6.

U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick, however, rejected that argument in a ruling Monday, and ordered Merlino to appear in court on Friday for an evidence hearing. - AP