01-21-05 -- Natale, Ralph -- Sentencing -- News Release

Mob Boss Sentenced To 13 Years In Prison For Racketeering Conspiracy in Pa. & N.J., including Bribing of Former Camden Mayor Milton Milan

CAMDEN - Former Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra boss Ralph Natale was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison today for his leadership role in a racketeering conspiracy, U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Christie of the District of New Jersey and Patrick L. Meehan of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced.

U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas gave Natale, 69, formerly of Pennsauken, five years credit for the time he has been in federal custody toward his prison term. Judge Irenas also ordered Natale to serve 10 years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison term and to pay $120,000 in restitution.

Natale's crimes were outlined in two Informations filed in federal court in Camden when he pleaded guilty before Judge Irenas, on May 5, 2000. At his plea hearing, Natale admitted that as the boss of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra ("LCN") he ordered or conspired in eight gangland murders and other attempted murders in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, oversaw drug, loansharking and extortion enterprises and paid bribes to Camden Mayor Milton Milan.

One of the two Informations was filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and transferred to New Jersey for the guilty plea. The Philadelphia Information charged Natale with one count of racketeering conspiracy, covering seven murders dating to 1970, as well as attempted murders, drug trafficking and extortion activities.

The Information filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey charged Natale with murder in aid of racketeering, corrupt payments to public officials and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute illegal drugs. The Information charged Natale with making more than $30,000 in corrupt payments to Milan in return for favors to organized crime-influenced businesses and contractors. During his guilty plea, Natale said he once described Milan to a mob associate as "our guy." The New Jersey Information also charges Natale with ordering the 1996 murder of Joseph Sodano in Newark and with conspiring with several organized crime associates in a methamphetamine distribution scheme.

Because of Natale's position as Boss of the Philadelphia LCN and his many years of association with that family and with members and associates of other organized crime families, the information provided by Natale has been particularly useful to law enforcement, U.S Attorneys Christie and Meehan said.

The two U.S. Attorney's Offices provided the Court with letters in support of a motion to depart from the applicable sentencing range and mandatory minimum sentencing. Both letters state that in the view of the United States, Natale - as the first boss of a LCN Family in the history of the United States to cooperate - has provided not only substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of others who have committed offenses, but has provided extraordinary assistance in the investigation and prosecution of public officials and LCN members in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area.

In addition to the information about the crimes to which he pled guilty and the involvement of other Philadelphia LCN members and associates, Natale also provided information about criminal activities of other organized crime families, according to the government's letters. Natale further provided information that will assist the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in subsequent investigations and met with law enforcement officers from other agencies to assist them in ongoing investigations.

The information and subsequent testimony provided by Natale led to the convictions of Milan, former Camden City Council President James R. Mathes, Jr. and Philadelphia LCN associate Daniel M. Daidone, who were charged with conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud as a result of their participation with Natale in a scheme to defraud the citizens of Camden of their right to the honest services of their public officials.

The prosecutions against Milan (on the organized crime counts), Daidone and Mathes would have been difficult, if not impossible, without Natale's cooperation. In testifying in the trial against Joseph Merlino, Natale's former underboss of the Philadelphia crime family, Natale admitted that he and Merlino planned the 1996 murder of Sodano, a "made member" of the North Jersey "crew" of the Philadelphia LCN.

Natale's admissions and testimony revealed the extent to which the Philadelphia-based family of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) had spread its influence through murder, extortion and public corruption in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to U.S. Attorneys Christie and Meehan. Natale's testimony during numerous trials also revealed the degree to which the mob has been dismantled through persistent federal investigations and prosecutions.

U.S. Attorneys Christie and Meehan credited the FBI Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John C. Eckenrode; investigators and prosecutors in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, under the direction of District Attorney Lynne Abraham; the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Vincent Sarubbi; the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, under the direction of Attorney General Peter Harvey; the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, under the direction of Attorney General Tom Corbett; and the Essex County (N.J.) Prosecutor's Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Paula T. Dow, with their assistance in the various investigations.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary A. Futcher, Attorney-in-Charge of the U.S. Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Trenton and Steven D'Aguanno of the Criminal Division in Camden, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Gross and Zane Memeger of the Organized Crime Strike Force Division in Philadelphia.

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Defense Attorney: Marc Neff, Esq. Philadelphia