Excellent analysis, DC! I look for a real-life parallel:
Joe Valachi was a loyal Mob guy, though not high up. He went to prison on a dope rap at about the same time as did Vito Genovese. But when Genovese turned on him, he was driven to murder another inmate whom he thought Genovese had sent to kill him. With his back to the wall--in effect, "half-dead, scared, talkin' out loud about how [Genovese] betrayed him"--and with nothing to lose and nothing to look forward to, Valachi turned rat. I think FFC had him in mind--the Senate hearing scene was a perfect model of the Valachi hearings, right down to the family charts:

http://www.gangrule.com/gallery/maps.html

(scroll to the bottom)