Friday, March 11, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.
Two retired New York City police detectives charged with serving as mob hitmen will find out today if they will remain in jail or be released while facing federal racketeering charges.
Louis Eppolito, 56, and Stephen Caracappa, 63, had their detention hearing continued until today, after their attorneys asked acting U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Togliatti for more time to refute a government motion asking that the men remain in custody and be transported to New York by U.S. marshals.
David Chesnoff, who represents Caracappa, and Richard Schonfeld, who represents Eppolito, said that their clients have no criminal records and are being disparaged by murderers and extortionists who are now serving as government witnesses.
"The government is relying on the words of rats," Chesnoff said.
In 1986 Eppolito and Caracappa were allegedly put on the payroll of Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, a former underboss for New York's Luchese crime family, who is now a government witness, according to a federal indictment returned in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
The indictment charges that the two worked as secret mob associates for years while working for the New York Police Department, and that the defendants were hired by Casso to exact revenge on rival Gambino family members and help him rise to power.
The indictment connects Eppolito and Caracappa to eight mob-related slayings and three attempted killings in the New York area.
During Thursday's hearing Chesnoff referred to Caracappa as a decorated Vietnam War veteran and police officer, while Schonfeld said that Eppolito was the 11th-most decorated officer in the history of the New York Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Henoch, who has flown to Las Vegas from the Eastern District of New York to argue that the two men should remain jailed, said that his research shows that Eppolito is not so highly thought of by New York police.
"I'm not here to count the number of decorations these men have," said Togliatti, a Clark County District Court judge who was serving as a magistrate because all of Las Vegas' federal judges were in Reno for a conference.
Henoch said that Eppolito and Caracappa are dangers to the public and should not be released from custody.
"Eppolito and Caracappa are violent associates of LCN (La Cosa Nostra) who are charged with numerous murders, attempted murders, retaliation and attempted retaliation against a witness or informer and obstruction of justice," Henoch's 29-page motion to detain the defendants says.
The motion goes on to state that both men are facing life sentences if convicted of the crimes charged in the indictment.
During the hearing Chesnoff asked if the government's facts in the motion for detention were based on wiretaps, and Henoch said they were not, but didn't say that wiretaps weren't used in the case.
Among the allegations contained in the motion and the indictment is the slaying of Edward Lino. Lino, a Gambino family captain who was believed to have been associated with the crew that tried to kill Casso, is one of the underworld figures the two detectives allegedly killed.
Eppolito and Caracappa, who have both lived in Las Vegas for the past decade, are also charged with the murder of Nicholas Guido on Christmas day 1986. Guido had the same name and lived in the same neighborhood as a Gambino soldier, and was mistakenly killed by a crew including the defendants, the indictment states.
Eppolito, who worked for the New York Police Department from 1969 to 1990, and Caracappa, who was employed there from 1969 to 1992, began secretly working for the Mafia in the 1980s, according to the indictment.
Both men are also charged in the indictment with drug trafficking and money laundering after they relocated to Las Vegas. Members of Eppolito's family, including his wife, said they had no comment as they left the George Federal Building on Thursday.
Eppolito's 24-year-old son, Anthony Eppolito, was released on his own recognizance by Togliatti on Thursday after being charged with possessing and selling more than five grams of methamphetamine.
Anthony Eppolito was charged by the U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada in an indictment unsealed Thursday, and is scheduled to enter a plea on March 18. The younger Eppolito was arrested Wednesday at his home while his father and Caracappa were arrested outside of Piero's restaurant on Convention Center Drive just east of the Strip.
Louis Eppolito wrote the 1992 book "Mafia Cop," which chronicled his family ties to the mob and his colorful career as a New York detective, and was focused on writing movie scripts, Las Vegas entertainment lawyer Barry Levinson said.
Levinson said he helped Eppolito incorporate his production company.
"I've known him for years," Levinson said. "He's a stand-up guy, he really is. I can't believe they'd arrest him."
Levinson said that Eppolito is outgoing, a friend and a good writer.
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