Gravano and Son Plead Guilty in Drug Ring Case

N E W  Y O R K, May 25, 2001 -- Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, theturncoat mobster who helped bring down the Mafia's upper echelon,admitted today that he had returned to a life of crime.

Gravano, 56, and his son, Gerard, 25, pleaded guilty in federalcourt in Brooklyn to charges alleging they ran a multimilliondollar Ecstasy ring in Arizona. Both men face up to 15 years inprison when they are sentenced Sept. 11.

The pleas came amid public disclosures of what prosecutors saidwas overwhelming evidence against Gravano, the former underboss ofthe Gambino organized crime family. Arizona associates who becamegovernment informants claimed he used his notoriety as a prolifichit man to protect his turf, court papers said.

Gravano admitted killing 19 people, but was offered leniency inexchange for his testimony against Gambino boss John Gotti andothers throughout the 1990s. He served just five years in prisonbefore moving to Phoenix under the witness protection program.

In court papers, prosecutors charged that Gravano had formed awestern chapter of La Cosa Nostra called the "Arizona Mafia." Thenew syndicate sought to cash in on the Ecstasy craze by buyingthousands of Ecstasy pills in Brooklyn and selling them in Arizona.