Thursday, March 10, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JOHN L. SMITH: 'Mafia Cop' finds himself, former NYPD pal ensnared in mob murder

Louie Eppolito has been shopping movie scripts in search of a cinematic score to rival his popular paperback memoir, "Mafia Cop."

Wednesday night at Piero's Italian Cuisine on Convention Center Drive, the retired New York police officer and Las Vegas resident was handed an improbable plot twist courtesy of the FBI and DEA.

Title it the "Ghost of Eddie Lino."

At approximately 6 p.m., the 56-year-old Eppolito was arrested along with former NYPD partner Steve Caracappa in connection with the murder of Gambino and Bonanno crime family associate Eddie Lino.

Lino was among the shooters named by Gambino crime family underboss-turned-federal informant Sammy "The Bull" Gravano in the Dec. 16, 1985, murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano outside Sparks Steak House on East 46th Street in New York.

Lino also was implicated in the murder of mob associate-turned-federal informant Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson. The murders of Castellano and his driver/confidant Tommy Bilotti paved the way for John Gotti to become boss of the family.

The problem is, mob murders are never as neat as planned. Perfect murders exist only in Hollywood. In the real world, and the underworld, someone always snitches.

In the mid-1990s, mob informants of questionable veracity named Eppolito and Las Vegas resident Caracappa as the killers of Lino, who had developed a big mouth and a mean heroin habit. Mob hitman-turned-cooperator Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso was among the accusers.

The trouble with Casso's allegations was, the decorated New York cops had more credibility than he did; and when Casso crapped out of turn by naming Gravano as a planner of an attempted hit on the Rev. Al Sharpton, the case against Eppolito and Caracappa began gathering dust.

Have Gravano and his fellow informants refreshed their memories?

Has new evidence surfaced thanks to the recent defection of convicted Bonanno family boss and former Gotti friend Joe Massino?

The feds aren't talking, but it's no secret New York police and FBI agents have had Eppolito and Caracappa on their minds for years. Eppolito is related to convicted heroin trafficker and old-world mafia man Rosario Gambino, the father of controversial Los Angeles businessman Tommy Gambino. For the record, Eppolito has sworn he's stayed away from his nefarious family influences.

Surely Eppolito considers himself a stand-up guy. His problem is, this case isn't just about him and his friend and former police partner. The DEA portion of the investigation includes Eppolito's son, Anthony Eppolito, who was also arrested Wednesday on drug charges related to methamphetamine.

The FBI-DEA investigation continued Wednesday night.

A call to Eppolito's family was not returned.

A stocky man with a pencil-thin mustache, Eppolito was born and raised in Brooklyn and grew up in a family rooted in the mob. In "Mafia Cop: the Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob," co-authored with Bob Drury, Eppolito described his colorful career and alleged he'd been betrayed by New York City police after long years of decorated service.

New York investigators, meanwhile, believed Eppolito also worked as an informant for the Gambino family and was intimately familiar with the mob clan's criminal activity.

Since moving to Las Vegas, Eppolito has written several movie proposals he's attempted to sell to Hollywood producers.

Meanwhile, state and federal law enforcement in New York kept working at clearing up the endless string of mob-related murders, the homicide of Eddie Lino among them.

"This is what happens when cops start playing both sides of the fence," an informed source said Wednesday night.

They say the mob never forgets, but it's the feds who have long memories.

FBI and DEA agents from New York teamed up with their Las Vegas counterparts to make the arrests at Piero's with guns drawn as the popular restaurant was just beginning to seat its early evening customers.

"Eppolito was as white as a ghost," one eyewitness observed.

Who knows, maybe he saw the ghost of Eddie Lino.

John L. Smith's column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295. Jane Ann Morrison's column, which usually appears on Thursday, will return on Saturday.