As a 15-year-old high school student, he started in the mob doing odd jobs for a litany of mobsters from the 1980s and selling football pools, he said.

By 18, he was cleaning guns and cars used in crimes and acting as a "blocker" to prevent police from following those who committed crimes.

Scafidi testified that he helped his bookmaker brother, Salvatore "Tore" Scafidi, with sports gambling, who directed him to work for Merlino's father, Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino, an underboss later demoted.

Scafidi said he became a "runner" for Merlino's father, handling numbers, sports gambling and loanshark proceeds. He laundered as much as $200,000 at a time for mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, now jailed, he said.

Scafidi identified his one-time childhood friends - defendants Joey Merlino, Steve Mazzone, George Borgesi, Martin Angelina - as aspiring mob associates like himself, who wanted to take over the crime family from crime boss John Stanfa, who Scafidi later joined.

Scafidi said he once was ordered to stay away from Angelina, who had been warned to stay away from the banned and shunned Merlino family, because of the elder Merlino's demotion.

When Angelina refused, Scafidi added that he and Nicodemo "Nicky" Scarfo Jr. were ordered to "take Angelina off the street." Scafidi said they slugged him with "aluminum bats to make sure they [the bats] wouldn't break."

Jailed together in McKean federal prison in 1990, Joey Merlino introduced Ralph Natale, a mob associate of the late boss Angelo Bruno, to Scafidi and said he'd help them take over the mob.

Scafidi said Merlino told him that Natale would speak to New York mobsters on their behalf, which Natale testified about last week. *