United States v. Caracappa, No. 09-1177-cr (2d Cir. July 23, 2010) (Kearse, Sack, Wesley, CJJ)
When last we heard from Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, two corrupt NYPD detectives who also did hits for the mob, the circuit had vacated a district court order tossing their RICO conspiracy conviction and granting them a new trial on the remaining counts. See Enterprise Rent-A-Cop, posted September 27, 2008. On remand, the district court sentenced Caracappa to life plus 80 and Eppolito to life plus 100. This opinion disposes of the defendants’ appeal. The circuit affirmed.
The opinion treads little new ground, with the exception of one interesting evidentiary issue. An important cooperating witness was Burton Kaplan, who in his day had been a trusted member of the Lucchese Family and the main intermediary between Caracappa/Eppolito and Anthony Cassso, the Lucchese underboss. During his trial testimony Kaplan explained that he would relay law …