According to a Sunday story in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Ralph Natale, once head of the mob in the southern Philadelphia metro area, has already pleaded guilty to two murders, extortion, gambling and drug trafficking.
Cooperating with prosecutors, he is now testifying in the federal corruption trial of Camden, N.J., Mayor Milton Milan, whom Natale said he bribed in return for favors to businesses operating under mob influence.
In the process, Natale has been giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation details on 14 underworld murders, two in the 1970s in which he admitted he was the triggerman.
Among Natale's other revelations, described as rehearsed "fiction" by defense attorneys:
• A South Philadelphia bookmaker was shot to death because his brother admitted the 1993 murder of Michael Ciancaglini, a close associate of reputed mobster Joseph Merlino.
• Mob associate Michael Avicolli was shot and buried in northern New Jersey for "having an affair" with the wife of another gangster.
• Another mob-related figure, Ronald Turchi, who was later murdered, gave $10,000 to a leading member of the Gambino crime family to buy the position of Philadelphia mob boss.
• Natale authorized the slaying of a Newark mobster, Joe Sodano, because he repeatedly failed to attend meetings.
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