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.

The Brothers Hydell

People romanticize the Mafia in movies, but the truth is very far from the picture on the big screen.  

Betty Hydell, the sister-in-law of Gambino capo Daniel Marino, has plenty of reason to know that the real Mafia is not a bunch of good natured hoods cracking jokes and eating cannolis.  Betty lost two sons to two different crime families.

James Hydell took part in the attempted murder of Gaspipe Casso, who would end up living and later became the Lucchese family underboss.  James and a few Gambino guys had waited outside a Bensonhurst Brooklyn restaurant named the Blue Ox.  They shot him numerous times, and he lived.  Gaspipe heard through the grape vine who had tried to kill him, and he unleashed his corrupt cops, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to bring James Hydell to him.  He planned to torture him to find out who else had been part of the attempted hit.  They went by his mother Betty Hydell’s house looking for him.  Years later she saw Eppolito on TV and she knew he was one of those looking for her son James before he disappeared.  James was kidnaped by the Mafia cops, thrown in their truck, and dropped off to Gaspipe in a parking lot.  Gaspipe took him and then tortured him for hours to find out who was with him on the attempted hit.    Then Gaspipe made him disappear so the family would never know what happened to him.

Legend has it that Betty hid some of Daniel Marino’s cash in a bank safety deposit. Frank Hydell, her other son, somehow stole it.  Betty had to give up her home to pay back the money her son had stolen.

I have been told that Frank Hydell was not like his brother, and had a big mouth.  He and some buddies were going to grab a score on 18th Ave Brooklyn from a night deposit at a bank.  Frank had a minivan that he had stolen from Long Island.  They were waiting in the minivan and that night it was cold.  They saw the man they were going to rob heading to the night deposit, but because of the cold, he ran instead of walking.  There was also an accident within sight on the corner, so there were a couple of cops close by and the guys called it off.  

The Gambinos began to suspect Frank, because a few times he should have been locked up for things but nothing happened.  A crew of bank robbers was taking down a score on 13th Ave Brooklyn and Frank drove his car. There was a snow storm that night and his car could not be moved.  The next morning he had to see his parole officer but nothing happened.

The Gambinos asked Marino, who was locked up at the time, if they could kill Frank.  He gave his blessing.

They used a Gambino associate named Eddie Boyle to murder Frank.  Frank’s own friend lured him to a Staten Island Stripclub where Boyle shot him in the back.

The Hydell brothers were no Saints. James was a bad guy who attempted to murder Gaspipe.  Frank was suspected of a murder, stole from his own uncle and was working with law enforcement.  In the end, they were murdered by their so-called friends.  

The Mafia is nothing funny or romantic, it is a deadly and serious criminal enterprise.

Mafia Cops

Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are referred to as the Mafia Cops.  Louis Eppolito wrote a book named “Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob in 1992.”

That was very far from the truth because Louis Eppolito was worse than any made member of any family.  Street guys, knockaround guys, never pretend to be anything but what they are in life: criminals.  Most of them take the same route to becoming made members of a crime family.

Louis Eppolito came from a mafia family, his father was a Gambino soldier and his uncle and cousin were also Gambino men until they were murdered by Nino Gaggi and Roy Demeo.

Eppolito went to great lengths in his book to proclaim his innocence. Unfortunately it was all a lie and it was worse than the Internal Affairs of the NYPD could have imagined.

The March 9, 2005 indictment of Eppolito and Caracappa says it all.  At all times relevant Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito were associates of the LCN.  It seems for years the two NYPD officers passed information to the Lucchese Family and they in turn passed it on to the other families.  They passed on information to the underboss of the Lucchese family Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso.  He would refer to them as his crystal ball and they would give him that edge.

The two NYPD officers then took part in 8 murders for the Lucchese family including the murder of Nicholas Guido.  Nicholas Guido was a hard working 26 year old telephone installer who was very proud of his new car on Christmas day 1986.  He was showing it off to his uncle when a three man hit team gunned him down on his Brooklyn street.  The problem was, it was the wrong Nicholas Guido!  The two Mafia Cops had kidnapped a Gambino associate named James Hydell because he had taken part in a failed hit on Gaspipe Casso. Gaspipe tortured Hydell until he gave up the name of those who had taken part in his shooting. Once Gaspipe learned Nicky Guido took part in his shooting he contacted his man Burton Kaplan a huge weed dealer and go between to the Mafia Cops.  Eppolito and Caracappa gave him a picture of Nicky Guido and a Brooklyn address near Court Street.  The three man hit team Frank Listerino, Georgie Zappola and Joseph Testa drove by and saw a man in a red car they thought was Nicky Guido.  They wrote down the plate number and again the Mafia Cops ran it and this time the name matched.  They were waiting outside on Christmas day when he came outside and they ambushed him. He was an innocent man and those two degenerate cops who were sworn to protect the public caused his death.  

They would retire from the NYPD but that never stopped them.  They gave up information about Sammy The Bull Gravano so the Gambinos could kill him.  

The good thing is just last week a Federal Judge ruled that the City of New York can be sued for the two criminals actions.  The NYPD had a chance in 1984 when they caught Louis Eppolito passing information to Rosario “Sal” Gambino.  Sal Gambino was deeply involved in the Pizza Connection Heroin ring.  The FBI had found copies of sensitive documents in Sal’s dresser when they raided his home. They were NYPD Intelligence files and it was determined that they were copied at the 62nd Precinct in Brooklyn and they had Louis Eppolitos fingerprints on them. The NYPD cleared him of charges despite compelling evidence that he was guilty.  It was then that Eppolito started working for the Lucchese Family and over the years he and his partner would be paid over $375,000 in cash.  They sold their souls.