DRUG DEALER SAYS HE SOLD FOR MILAN

Saul Febo is a drug-trial witness. He was one of two who named Camden's
mayor, who is not charged.

The leader of a multimillion-dollar, open-air drug market testified
yesterday in federal court that he started his drug career selling cocaine
for numerous drug dealers in North Camden, including Camden Mayor Milton
Milan.

Saul "Gordo" Febo, 32, said he "trapped" or sold drugs for Milan and others
in the late 1980s, almost a decade before Milan became mayor. Febo said the
two peddled drugs near Fifth and York Streets, the North Camden
neighborhood where Milan grew up.

Febo testified that he initially sold small quantities of cocaine but later
built a drug empire in a crumbling East Camden alley where he hired two
dozen workers at a time and had hundreds of customers buying drugs
throughout the 1990s.

Febo was the second convicted drug dealer to take the stand yesterday in
U.S. District Court and name Milan as a drug dealer. Earlier, Ernesto
"Tito" Padilla, 30, testified that he sold drugs with Milan in 1989 in the
same North Camden neighborhood. Two other convicted drug dealers have
testified that Milan bought cocaine by the kilogram in the 1990s.

They are among a half-dozen dealers who have alleged drug activity by Milan
in the drug-conspiracy trial of Jose Luis "J.R." Rivera, 40, a Camden
businessman, and Luis "Tun Tun" Figueroa, 34, of Puerto Rico, which began
in Camden last month. Both defendants could face life in prison if
convicted.

Milan, who became mayor in 1997 and was City Council president in 1996, has
denied that he bought or sold drugs. He has not been charged with any
crime.

Carlos A. Martir Jr., who represents Milan and Figueroa, said in an
interview yesterday that the government was out to destroy the mayor's
reputation in the midst of a federal investigation of alleged corruption in
Milan's administration.

Martir also said it was unfair of prosecutors to single out Milan in a
trial in which he is not a defendant, and he accused them of doing so
because Milan is Hispanic.

"It is clear that the government's intention is to destroy him emotionally
and politically. They have no respect for his individual reputation," said
Martir, a former federal prosecutor in Philadelphia.

"I'm concerned about the fact that he's Hispanic. It's easy for them to
feel comfortable about his name coming out. If he wasn't Hispanic, his name
wouldn't be coming out."

Febo, who has a tattoo on his chest with an obscene reference to the FBI,
is considered the government's top witness. He began cooperating with
authorities last year and pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy in August and
admitted his part in the murder of a rival drug dealer.

Febo is expected to provide the most detailed and damaging evidence against
the drug organization. His long-anticipated testimony yesterday drew a
large crowd, including Camden County Prosecutor Lee A. Solomon, who sat in
the second row.

During questioning from prosecutor Sally Smith, Febo described his youth in
Puerto Rico and Camden, where, he said, he dropped out of school in the
11th grade to work with his mother in a chicken factory in South Camden.

But he said he saw others making more money selling drugs and wanted the
same. "Everyone was just hustling in that day," Febo said, often smiling
and eagerly pointing out those in the courtroom he said were associated
with drugs, including Rivera, Figueroa, and, to the surprise of
prosecutors, a woman watching from the second row.

Febo said he began selling at Fifth and York for various dealers, including
Milan and Luis Medina, who has been convicted of drug dealing. Medina has
said in an interview that he sold drugs with Milan in the 1980s near Fifth
and York.

"They were greedy," Febo said of Milan and others who he said sold drugs.
"They wanted all the money for themselves."