Milton Milan's sentencing may have ended a sordid episode of city history, but federal officials say their corruption investigation is not yet finished, and a gallery of notorious criminals connected to recent events await their fates.

"Our investigation is continuing into corruption in this area," U.S. Attorney Robert J. Cleary said Friday.

"We're going to pursue aggressively public corruption at all levels," he said, without elaborating.

Prosecutors say they are still examining information provided to them by informants, including those who helped them build the case against Milan, as well as evidence reviewed by federal grand juries.

Milan, meanwhile, has still not been ruled out as a possible suspect in an unsolved killing nearly 12 years ago in the city.

But the major corruption scandals that gripped City Hall the past few years appear to be winding down.

Self-proclaimed mob boss Ralph Natale, 69, awaits word of his sentence. Natale was a key witness in Milan's trial, telling jurors he gave envelopes stuffed with cash to an intermediary to give to then-Mayor Milan.

The one-time Pennsauken resident testified he ultimately gave Milan up to $30,000 in cash and gifts from the Philadelphia mob between March 1996 and June 1998, including a January 1998 West Palm Beach, Fla., golf trip. Natale said he gave the bribes in hope of collecting government contracts, a scheme that never paid off.

Natale was also recently busy testifying in the ongoing racketeering trial of Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino in federal court in Philadelphia.

Natale pleaded guilty in May 2000 to racketeering, murder and drug conspiracy. He faces life in prison, but hopes for some leniency for helping federal prosecutors with two high-profile cases.

Similarly, drug kingpin Jose "JR" Rivera, a 41-year-old former East Camden auto parts store owner, is awaiting sentencing after being a key witness in Milan's trial. He had earlier been convicted of drug conspiracy.

He, too, is hoping for a break in return for his cooperation. His sentencing is not scheduled but should be by the end of the year.

Rivera was convicted in February 2000 of conspiracy to distribute drugs. During his trial, five city drug dealers said Milan either bought, sold or was linked to drugs. They also told of paying off city cops or having friendly relationships with them.

During Milan's trial in late 2000, Rivera told jurors how he loaned Milan $65,000 in 1994 from drug proceeds he kept locked in a safe at his East Camden auto parts business.

Rivera, formerly of Cherry Hill, faces 30 years to life in prison.

Saul Febo, one of the most nefarious characters to emerge in Camden over the past few years, also awaits sentencing. He once "owned" the "Alley," a notorious drug bazaar set between housing projects in East Camden.

Febo, one of the city's biggest drug dealers for much of the 1990s, testified at Rivera's trial that Milan tipped him to a federal investigation and warned him to leave town.

chunky girth, Febo testified at Milan's trial that he was involved in a scheme with a towing contractor to get the then-mayor free use of several vehicles.

Febo, jailed at the federal prison facility in Philadelphia, has already pleaded guilty to drug charges, saying he oversaw distribution of more than 330 pounds of cocaine.

He also admitted to playing a role in the killing of a rival drug dealer. Kevin Smith, the assistant U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted Rivera, said there's no date set for Febo's sentencing.

Indeed, Febo has proved to be a valuable source of information into the drug trade of Philadelphia and Puerto Rico as well.

By now though, authorities concede, Febo has pretty much told everything he knows.

But the unsolved 1988 murder of Francisco "Pancho" Chamorro is still alive, investigators say, with Milan still not ruled out as a possible suspect.

Camden County Prosecutor Lee Solomon has said he would not label Milan a suspect unless he was indicted by a grand jury. Still, Solomon continues to call the Chamorro murder an open and active investigation and hinted of recent breaks in the case.

"We haven't ruled out anybody who's been connected with the homicide," he said.

Chamorro, a South Camden heroin dealer, was gunned down at night in front of his wife as he went to park a car near their home. Casings from more than 80 shots from automatic weapons were found at the murder scene.

Milan was questioned by investigators and allegedly failed a lie detector test. A girl, then 15, told police Milan bragged about the shooting at a New Year's Eve party, according to a law enforcement report. Chamorro, she said, had been shot accidentally by Milan and two others who were attempting to kill two drug dealers they had been feuding with.

Milan has denied any connection to the shooting.

Solomon refused to comment on any investigation into accusations by drug dealers in the Rivera trial that numerous police officers were either close with Rivera or accepting payoffs and warning dealers of police activity.

But it is known that his office launched an investigation of the police department after the trial. Several officers were arrested, while others have been disciplined internally or have retired.

"I really hope and pray that a long and difficult chapter in Camden's history is closed," Solomon said Friday, shortly after Milan's sentencing.