Yeah, that about sums it up. If a made guy flips over anything less than 20 to life, then it's really over. If a guy flips over being caught with a numbers sheet in his back pocket, they may as well turn everything over to the Asians and the Russians right now. This is a penny ante case that wouldn't have gotten any press at all prior to the Internet. It's hardly national news, and I haven't even seen it covered (except for maybe a blurb) in the New York papers. It's bullshit.

I'll bet that right now Ligambi can probably plea to 7 years or less, as long as he's willing to allocute to being a "member" of something. That admission is boilerplate in these deals today. The New York families have made it the norm. A boss admits to being part of a criminal organization without giving anyone up, he comes out with his stripes a few years later. It's one of the changes that's allowed the mob to hang on. Twenty five years ago it was unthinkable. Today it's the norm.