Turncoat mob boss' betrayal stuns underworld
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PHILADELPHIA - Mob boss Ralph Natale once talked about the "special bond" he shared with his reputed successor, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino.
While sharing a prison cell in the early 1990s, the older man and his protégé allegedly plotted to rule the Philadelphia underworld. In government tapes, Natale is repeatedly heard telling Merlino he loves him, once saying, "I think about you 24 hours a day."
So much for mob loyalty.
This week, Natale is committing the ultimate Mafia sin: He is testifying for the government in Merlino's racketeering trial.
"Whenever I wanted something done on the street, whether it was an extortion, a beating or a murder, I would pass the order on to Joey Merlino, and then he would have to go find the men within our family to go ahead and do it," said Natale, who is in his 60s and hopes to win a reduced prison sentence in return for his testimony.
As he and Merlino exchanged glares across the courtroom, Natale described how he authorized three gangland killings that Merlino and other co-defendants allegedly carried out.
Merlino attorney Edwin Jacobs Jr. dismissed Natale's accusations as "exclusively hearsay."
"It's this witness' claims about what other people told him. The purpose of the cross-examination will be to see if there's anything which lends any support to these claims," Jacobs said.
Natale's premiere as turncoat came last year during the federal corruption trial of Mayor Milton Milan of Camden, N.J., who was convicted in December of charges that included taking mob payoffs and laundering drug money.
The FBI brags that Natale is the only American mob boss ever to flip. Although the Mafia code of silence has crumbled in recent years, underworld figures are still aghast at Natale's betrayal.
Courtroom spectators, most of whom are friends and relatives of the defendants, snicker and whisper insults about him. One wiseguy talked about Natale buying a "mob starter kit" from Toys R Us.
Natale and Merlino cemented their relationship at the federal prison in 1990-91. Natale was doing 27 years for drug trafficking and arson; Merlino had been convicted in an armored-car heist.
The two men shared an intense dislike of John Stanfa, who took over the mob in the late 1980s after Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo went to prison. With several of Merlino's friends, they began plotting a bloody war against the Stanfa faction, with the ultimate aim of ruling the Philadelphia mob, Natale said.
After Merlino was paroled, Natale began calling him regularly from prison. The conversations were taped by the government; more than 30 of them were played for the jury this week.
After nearly 16 years behind bars, Natale was paroled in 1994. Merlino initiated him into the mob several weeks later, and Natale began assembling a new crime family, according to testimony.
Philadelphia was theirs for the taking: Stanfa and his men had been convicted of racketeering and were in prison.
Natale was arrested in 1998 and soon began cooperating with prosecutors. Last May, he pleaded guilty to a career's worth of crime that included seven murders, four attempted murders, extortion, gambling and drug trafficking. Natale testified that he became bitter because Merlino and the other defendants sent little money to support him and his wife after he was jailed in 1998.
The former crime boss once had a more traditional view of turncoats like himself.
"If you commit a crime and get caught, you should go to jail. Go serve your time. But now these guys turn and become liars and try to give their time to somebody else," Natale told a cohort in 1996.
"At that time," Natale testified, "it's the way I felt, 100 percent."