Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Cost of Corrupt Cops

Today there are so many stories in the news about bad guys in law enforcement. Some are true and some are not.  The truth is that there are bad people in every aspect of society.  

Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, formerly of the NYPD, are some of the worst I've ever read about.

They worked for the underboss of the Luchese family, Gaspipe Casso, in New York while they were employed by the NYPD.  These were two sworn officers. Veterans with experience, not rookies. They were both decorated officers with a lot of arrests.

Louis Eppolito came from a family that had deep roots in the mafia. Ralph Eppolito, his father, was a made soldier in the Gambino crime family. Two other family members, an uncle and cousin, were also made men in the Gambino family and were eventually murdered.

Stephan Caracappa joined the NYPD and they were soon working together. They did well in the 1970’s when there was not much oversight. In the 1980’s the NYPD went after Louis Eppolito when he was connected to future Pizza Connection principal Rosario Gambino aka Sal.  He was linked to law enforcement paperwork found in the possession of Rosario Gambino when they raided his home.  The NYPD wanted him to go quietly but he decided to fight and he was found not guilty in court.  He was not only given his job back, he was also promoted.

They did not know that he and partner Caracappa were on the payroll of the Lucchese family to the tune of $4000 a month. They were paid between $375k and $450k by the family for information and murder.  They actually carried out hits for the family, using their badges and police vehicles. They also kidnapped men and gave up the names of informants to the Luchese family.

These two men operated above the law for many years and they lived well.  One look at Eppolito and you can see he ate his extra cash.  When they retired they moved to Las Vegas and lived on the same street.  They were sure that they had gotten away with murder.

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but justice had not forgotten about these two.

Burton Kaplan, a Lucchese-connected drug dealer, turned on them in prison after being locked up for many years, and gave them up. Then, Stephan Corso, a CPA who was caught stealing cash from his clients started wearing a wire and also caught them on tape.

The cost to the people of New York and the family of their victims is enormous.  

Barry Gibbs - not to be confused with one of the Bee Gee’s is the name of a man that served 19 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.  The media fails to mention him when they write about the Mafia Cops. Barry Gibbs was convicted of murdering a prostitute after a witness came forward that claimed to see him dump her body.  The lead law enforcement officer was Louie Eppolito.  The FBI found the murder file in his home when they arrested him in Las Vegas. They reopened the case and it turned out the witness was threatened and paid by Eppolito to lie.  Barry Gibbs was released and he was awarded 9.9 million dollars.

Last week the City of New York settled the last case with the victims of the Mafia Cops families.

The family of Nicholas Guido, who was gunned down in his car because he had the wrong name, settled for 5 million dollars.  The family of Luchese soldier Anthony Dilapi, who left the life and moved to Los Angeles, settled for $1.85 million. The family of John Heidel settled for $1.75 million. The family of Bobby Borriello, a Gambino soldier settled for $1.5 million. The family of James Bishop, an informant, settled for $1.75 million. The family of Gambino Capo Eddie Lino, killed on the Belt Parkway by the two cops settled for $1.5 million.
The last one was diamond dealer Israel Greenwald and his family received $5 million.

The cost is huge and the worst part is these two men still get their pensions.


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