August 20, 1999

Facing drug charges with reputed underboss Joseph Merlino, he would be the nation's highest-ranking Mafia figure ever to cooperate.

By George Anastasia
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

The other shoe is about to drop on the beleaguered Philadelphia mob.

Ralph Natale, the jailed crime-family boss, has cut a deal with federal authorities and agreed to testify for the government, according to two state law enforcement sources who asked not to be identified.

"It's huge," one investigator said. "And it's a 100 percent done deal."

Natale, as an active boss of a crime family, would be the highest-ranking American Mafia figure ever to cooperate. He also would be the latest in a long list of Philadelphia mob turncoats. Nearly a dozen initiated or "made" members of the local crime family have turned government witness in the last 13 years, forming what mobsters from other cities derisively refer to as the "South Philadelphia boys' choir."

Sources said yesterday that Natale, 64, had been quietly negotiating a cooperating agreement since his arrest on federal drug charges two months ago.

His motive, they said, is basic: survival.

"The bottom line is Ralph doesn't want to die in jail," one investigator said.

Natale, with two prior convictions, would face a potential life sentence if convicted in the drug case.

In the last month, he has been to several secret FBI debriefing sessions in which he has discussed the inner workings of the organization and the details surrounding several unsolved mob murders, including the 1995 slaying of Billy Veasey, the brother of mob informant John Veasey.

Federal authorities declined to comment yesterday on reports of Natale's defection, which have been circulating for two days in law enforcement and underworld circles.

Natale's lawyer, Marc Neff, said he had heard the rumors but was not aware of any cooperating agreement.

Underworld sources, however, said Natale had been spotted on three occasions being led through a security entrance at the U.S. District Courthouse in Camden surrounded by federal agents.

Natale has been held in the Salem County Jail in southern New Jersey since his arrest in June on federal drug-conspiracy charges. He and five others are accused of operating a methamphetamine-distribution ring. Natale's reputed underboss, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, and four Boston mob associates also were arrested at that time on federal cocaine-distribution charges.

The arrests grew out of an FBI undercover operation in which mobster Ronald Previte, a top Natale associate, wore a wire for federal authorities and recorded hundreds of conversations with Natale, Merlino and dozens of other mob figures for two years beginning in 1997.

Natale will corroborate some of the evidence and testimony offered by Previte, investigators say. But he also is expected to add details about drug dealing, extortions, murders and political corruption.

Among other things, federal and New Jersey authorities hope to use Natale to expand a continuing investigation into political corruption in Camden, according to one law enforcement official close to the case.

"He can give them politicians and legitimate businessmen who were setting up deals with him," one New Jersey investigator said yesterday when asked about Natale's potential as a witness.

"He complements Previte on some things, and he goes beyond him on others."

Natale also has been questioned about a series of mob hits, including the 1973 murder of Philadelphia union leader Joey McGreal. Natale has long been suspected of being a part of a mob hit squad that took out McGreal because he was trying to horn in on organized crime's control of the local bartenders union.

But federal authorities are most interested in the 1995 slaying of Billy Veasey, a case investigators have tried without success to link to Merlino and several of his close associates.

Billy Veasey was gunned down in front of his South Philadelphia home on the morning his brother John was scheduled to begin testifying in a mob racketeering case in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. While early speculation held that the murder was an attempt to silence John Veasey, sources now say the murder was carried out to avenge the 1993 slaying of Michael Ciancaglini, a top Merlino associate.

John Veasey admitted to being one of the men who killed Ciancaglini and wounded Merlino in an August 1993 drive-by shooting.

Natale has reportedly told authorities that he approved the Billy Veasey hit, which was requested by members of the Merlino faction.

"It was a brother for a brother," a source said Natale had told investigators.

Mobsters and defense lawyers reacted with surprise and anger yesterday when word of Natale's apparent defection began to spread. Most questioned Natale's credibility and character.

"People are shocked," one Merlino associate said. "How could he do this to people? God knows what kind of lies he's going to make up. And the government's just going to believe him?"

"I'm not concerned," said lawyer Michael Pinsky, who represents reputed mobsters Joseph Ligambi and George Borgesi. With Merlino and Natale behind bars, Ligambi has been identified by federal authorities as the "acting boss" of the organization. Borgesi, Ligambi's nephew, is a longtime friend and top associate of Merlino's.

"Natale's track record is drugs, and my clients don't deal drugs or associate with drug dealers," Pinsky said. "If the government is going to rely on Ralph Natale's credibility to prove anything, they're going to have a problem."

Others, however, believe that Natale's decision to flip will affect virtually every member of his organization.

"It's over," one investigator said. "They just don't know it yet."

Nearly everyone concedes that Natale's cooperation would be a staggering blow to an already crippled crime family that has been wracked by a series of devastating federal prosecutions and undermined by longstanding internal bickering and senseless violence.

Four of the family's last six mob bosses are in jail. Two others are dead. Natale, whose mob involvement stretches back to the early 1970s, has long been described as a mob leader out of the mold of the late Angelo Bruno.

His decision to cooperate, however, is rooted in the 1990s and reflects the loss of honor, loyalty and discipline that has decimated mob families throughout the country. Dozens of formally initiated members of the once-secret criminal society known as the Mafia or La Cosa Nostra have become government witnesses in the last 10 years, shattering the once sacrosanct code of silence known as omerta.

Natale, however, would move to the top of that list as the first sitting mob boss to cut a deal with the government.

"It's unprecedented, but given what's been going on, not unexpected," said one New Jersey law enforcement official familiar with the latest developments.

Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco, the former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family, is considered the highest-ranking mobster ever to flip. Other top informants include Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, a high-profile underboss of New York's Gambino crime family, and Philip Leonetti, the former underboss and nephew of jailed Philadelphia Mafia don Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.

According to one source, the key to getting Natale to cooperate was FBI Agent James Maher, a veteran investigator who has been tracking Natale for two decades and who worked the drug and arson cases that led to Natale's convictions in the late 1970s.

Maher, according to one source familiar with the case, shepherded the deal through the U.S. Attorney's Offices in Philadelphia and Camden, both of which have targeted the Natale organization.

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