Mafia cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa in long distance appeal
The Mafia cops returned to Brooklyn Federal Court on Thursday by telephone from separate federal pens for the latest appeal of their convictions.
Judge Jack Weinstein, who had sentenced ex-NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa to life in prison for multiple murders and passing information to the Lucchese crime family, said it wasn’t necessary for them to attend in person.
Eppolito's disembodied voice sounded hopeful. "I'm so happy to have you working on me," Eppolito, 63, inartfully told his lawyers on a call from the U.S. Penitentiary in Tucson, Ariz.
“Uh, Lou, could you rephrase that?" lawyer Joseph Lawless deadpanned.
"I'm so happy to have you two working for me," Eppolito said.
"Much better," Lawless said.
The appeal contends that trial counsel Bruce Cutler failed to call then-Lucchese underboss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso as a defense witness to rebut the government's allegations because Casso would have implicated Cutler's most famous client, the late Gambino boss John Gotti, in a slew of crimes.
"The whole thing is pretty much a dead horse," Weinstein said. "Casso was a loose cannon. There isn't an attorney worth his salt who would have called Casso."
Eppolito's lawyer Joseph Bondy disagreed and said outside court that he intends to put Casso on the witness stand at a hearing in June.
Caracappa, 70, was on the line from the federal penitentiary in Victorville, Calif.
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