Louis Eppolito, the former NYPD detective convicted of moonlighting as a contract killer for the Lucchese crime family, died on November 3, 2019, at Tucson Medical Center in Arizona at age 71. No official cause of death was ever released. His wife, Frances Ann Eppolito, confirmed the death but declined to give a cause, and the Bureau of Prisons did not release one either.1The New York Times. Louis Eppolito, Detective Convicted as a Mob Hit Man, Dies2Newsday. Mafia Cop Eppolito Dies A source told the New York Post that Eppolito had been “struggling with health issues for years.”3New York Post. Mafia Cop Louis Eppolito Dies in Prison While Serving Life for Mob Hits
His daughter, Andrea Eppolito-Fisher, announced the death on Facebook, writing that her father “died peacefully in his sleep at 9:03 pm” and that “he died like he lived, on his own terms, as a fighter.”3New York Post. Mafia Cop Louis Eppolito Dies in Prison While Serving Life for Mob Hits
Where He Was Imprisoned
Eppolito was serving a sentence of life in prison plus 100 years at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson at the time of his death.4CNN. Mafia Cops Sentenced5U.S. Department of Justice. Caracappa and Eppolito Sentenced to Life6FindLaw. United States v. Caracappa Weinstein called the crimes “probably the most heinous” ever tried in his courthouse.7Police1. NY Mafia Cops Get Life Sentences
Who Louis Eppolito Was
Eppolito grew up inside organized crime. His father, Ralph Eppolito, was a Gambino crime family soldier known as “Fat the Gangster,” and his uncle, grandfather, and a cousin were also made members of the Mafia. By age 10 he was going on bookmaking rounds with his father, and by 12 he knew his father killed people for money.1The New York Times. Louis Eppolito, Detective Convicted as a Mob Hit Man, Dies He still joined the NYPD and served more than 20 years as a decorated street detective in Brooklyn before retiring in 1990.8NBC News. Two Retired NYC Cops Arrested in Connection With Mob Hits
After leaving the force, Eppolito published a 1992 memoir called Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob and picked up small acting roles in films including Goodfellas.1The New York Times. Louis Eppolito, Detective Convicted as a Mob Hit Man, Dies9Las Vegas Sun. Two Retired NYC Cops Arrested in Connection With Mob Hits He later moved to the Las Vegas area, where federal agents arrested him and his former partner, Detective Stephen Caracappa, outside Piero’s restaurant in March 2005.10The Mob Museum. Mob Cops Saga Still Reverberates 10 Years After Their Life Sentences
The Murders Behind the Life Sentence
Starting in the mid-1980s, Eppolito and Caracappa secretly went on the payroll of Lucchese underboss Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso, taking $4,000 a month for confidential law enforcement information and separate payments for kidnappings and killings. Between 1986 and 1992, the two detectives were involved in eight murders, two attempted murders, and one murder conspiracy, according to the federal indictment.11U.S. Department of Justice. Two Former NYPD Detectives Charged With Racketeering
The methods relied on the authority of a badge. In February 1986, the detectives staged a fake traffic stop of diamond dealer Israel Greenwald, told him he was wanted in a hit-and-run lineup, and drove him instead to a Brooklyn garage, where he was shot and buried under the concrete floor.12FindLaw. United States v. Eppolito13The Mob Museum. New York’s Mafia Cops Faked Arrests, Leaked Information to Aid Mob Killings That September, they kidnapped James Hydell, stuffed him in a car trunk, and delivered him alive to Casso. On Christmas Day 1986, a young man named Nicholas Guido was killed in a case of mistaken identity after the detectives passed Casso the wrong address for a Gambino associate who shared the name. In November 1992, they pulled over Edward “Eddie” Lino on the Belt Parkway and shot him dead.11U.S. Department of Justice. Two Former NYPD Detectives Charged With Racketeering
What Happened to the Other Figures in the Case
Stephen Caracappa, Eppolito’s partner and co-defendant, died on April 8, 2017, at the federal prison medical facility in Butner, North Carolina. He was 75 and had reportedly been battling cancer, though the Bureau of Prisons gave no official cause.14Newsday. Stephen Caracappa, One of Mafia Cops, Dies in Prison at 75
Burton Kaplan, the Lucchese associate whose testimony sealed the convictions, got his sentence cut to nine years for cooperating and was released in 2006. He died in hiding in 2009 at age 75.10The Mob Museum. Mob Cops Saga Still Reverberates 10 Years After Their Life Sentences
Anthony Casso, the underboss who had ordered the killings, died of COVID-19 on December 15, 2020, at age 78. He was serving a life sentence at the same Tucson penitentiary that had held Eppolito.15New York Post. Ex-Lucchese Underboss Anthony Gaspipe Casso Dies From COVID-19