KEY GRAVANO WITNESS POPS UP

An Arizona man arrested on Texas drug charges has become a key witness
against Salvatore ''Sammy the Bull'' Gravano, alleging that he sold large
amounts of Ecstasy to the former Mafia underboss and was recruited by
Gravano for a murder plot.

According to the Arizona Attorney General's Office, 35-year-old Philip F.
Pascucci of Phoenix began informing on Gravano nine days ago after Pascucci
was arrested on a federal drug warrant out of San Antonio.

In court papers, prosecutors say that Pascucci, an ex-convict, said he sold
7,000 Ecstasy pills to Gravano from late 1998 through February of this year,
when the former hit man was arrested in Tempe.

In addition, prosecutors claim that Pascucci can describe how Gravano
plotted to kill an attorney for families of the 19 people Gravano murdered
as a member of the Gambino crime family in New York.

''Gravano asked Pascucci to lure the lawyer to San Antonio with a promise of
a drug defense case,'' Assistant Attorney General Donald Conrad wrote.
''Gravano expressed his intent to kill the lawyer because he was angry with
him due to litigation against Gravano brought by his victims' survivors.''

Gravano and his attorney, Larry Hammond, could not be reached for comment
Tuesday.

Ron Kuby, a New York attorney who organized a multimillion-dollar lawsuit
against Gravano by homicide victims' survivors, was stunned at the latest
revelation.

''That's me,'' he said. ''Ugh! Do you want to tell me a little bit more
about the murder plot? Bummer.''

Kuby said he's spent years since Gravano was arrested and became a
government witness against Gambino family boss John Gotti, ''doing my best
to make his life as miserable as I could.''

Kuby organized 12 survivors and mounted a campaign in the media and the
courtroom, blasting the plea bargain that protected ''Sammy the Bull'' while
he wrote his memoirs, then set him free in Arizona. He said prosecutors
cozied up to Gravano, FBI agents testified in his behalf and a federal judge
unleashed him.

Kuby said that he had no inkling of the murder scheme, and joked that it was
bound to fail because he hates Texas too much to travel there. He added that
he is not surprised by anything concerning Gravano because Kuby has read a
psychological evaluation that portrays the mobster as an incurable, violent
sociopath.

''What is most disturbing is that it was the government of the United States
that gave him the ability to do this,'' Kuby added. ''We can only hope that
this time, prosecutors will succeed where the FBI failed so badly.''

Gravano is in a Maricopa County jail, held on $5 million bail, accused of
being the brains and bankroller of Arizona's largest Ecstasy syndicate.

In previous court hearings, Hammond has argued that police have no direct
proof of Gravano's involvement in Ecstasy deals, only a few hearsay
conversations recorded by wiretaps.

The Pascucci bombshell appears to blow that defense away. According to
prosecutors, Pascucci sold about 7,000 pills to Gravano from a Texas
laboratory and ''made deliveries of Ecstasy directly to the hands of
Gravano.''

He and Gravano each reportedly received 37 cents per pill until competition
from a European manufacturer drove the profit margin down to 25 cents per
pill.

Pascucci, who also has a 1994 conviction for mail fraud, is among several
suspects indicted by a San Antonio grand jury in the manufacturing and
importing of Ecstasy.

According to the Attorney General's Office, he began meeting with law
enforcement agents about six months ago, providing information on Gravano,
but did not admit his own involvement in drug deals until after he was
arrested by Phoenix Drug Enforcement Administration agents June 12.

Prosecutors also disclosed that Pascucci told a Phoenix police detective
several months ago that Salvatore Gravano did not participate in Ecstasy
business, but knew that his children, Gerard and Karen, were involved.

Daniel Inserra, a Valley lawyer who represents Pascucci, said his client is
in negotiations with authorities, but no firm plea agreements have been
reached. He would not discuss the case further.