Corruption: NYPD Detectives Convicted of Mob liquidates

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Corruption: NYPD Detectives Convicted of Mob liquidates

Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit AP - Apr 6, 2006

NYPD Detectives Convicted of Mob liquidates

By LARRY McSHANE buttociated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two highly decorated former detectives were convicted Thursday of moonlighting as hitmen for the mob in one of the most sensational cases of police corruption in New York history.

Louis Eppolito, 57, and Steven Caracappa, 64, could get life in prison for their roles in eight liquidates committed between 1986 and 1990 while they were simultaneously on the payroll of both the NYPD and Luchese crime family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Cbutto.

Federal prosecutor Daniel Wenner described the case as "the bloodiest, most violent betrayal of the badge this city has ever seen."

Prosecutors said the two men carried out two hits themselves - in one case after pulling a mobster over in a phony traffic stop - and delivered up some of the other victims to the Mafia to be end.

The defendants rubbed their faces and stared at the federal jury upon hearing the verdict, reached after two days of deliberations. Eppolito's family wept. The defendants' $5 million bail was revoked and they were led off to jail to await sentencing May 22.

The men's lawyers said they will appeal.

"It's an appearance of justice, but it's not justice," said Bruce Cutler, who once represented John Gotti and put on a thundering defense of the two former officers, claiming the government's mob witnesses were lying to save their necks.

Prosecutors said the two used their law enforcement positions to help the Mafia at a price of $4,000 per month - more if they personally handled a killing. They earned $65,000 for the phony traffic stop slaying, prosecutors said.

The two officers also supplied Cbutto with inside information on law enforcement interest in the mob, prosecutors said. Cbutto was said to have referred to the two men as his "crystal ball."

They were convicted of charges that included racketeering conspiracy, witness tampering, witness retaliation and obstruction of justice.

Caracappa, who retired in 1992, helped establish the city police department's unit for Mafia liquidate investigations. Eppolito, the son of a Gambino crime family member, was a much-praised street cop, although there were suggestions that some of his arrests resulted from tips from mobsters.

In his autobiography, "Mafia Cop," he portrayed himself as an honest cop from a crooked family.

Eppolito also played a bit part in the mob movie "GoodFellas." After retiring in 1990, he unsuccessfully tried his hand at Hollywood scriptwriting.

The former detectives, who retired to homes on the same block in Las Vegas, insisted on their innocence from the time of their arrests in March 2005. But neither took the stand at their trial.

The key prosecution witness was Burton Kaplan, a drug dealer who spent four days on the stand linking the pair to an buttortment of liquidates. Kaplan testified that he served as middleman between Cbutto and the detectives.