Caracappa }}
Stephen Caracappa (November 12, 1942 – April 8, 2017) had worked in the Organized Crime Homicide Unit of the
New York City Police Department (NYPD) since the late 1970s before he eventually retired on a disability pension in 1992, living for a time in
Great Kills,
Staten Island. He subsequently worked as a
private investigator and retired in the mid-1990s, moving to
Las Vegas,
Nevada, along with Eppolito. Caracappa was working inside the Las Vegas Women's Correctional Facility as a
corrections officer at the time of his arrest. While on trial in 2006, both he and Eppolito claimed that they were discriminated against during the proceedings.
Eppolito }}
Louis Eppolito (July 22, 1948 – November 3, 2019) was born in
Brooklyn,
New York, the son of Theresa Eppolito, a registered nurse, and Ralph Eppolito, an associate of the
Gambino crime family. Eppolito's paternal uncle and cousin, James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr., were also both
made members of the Gambino family, belonging to
capo Nino Gaggi's crew. Growing up in
East Flatbush, Eppolito became acquainted with several other mobsters. His uncle and cousin were eventually murdered by both Gaggi and Gambino
soldier Roy DeMeo, with the permission of Gambino boss
Paul Castellano. When he applied to the NYPD in 1969, Eppolito falsely stated that he had no relatives in organized crime. Eppolito eventually rose to the rank of
detective in 1977, a job which garnered him a number of headlines. In 1983, he was suspected and cleared of passing NYPD intelligence reports to
Rosario Gambino, a distant relative of Castellano and
Carlo Gambino. He retired as a police officer in late 1990. In 1992, Eppolito wrote a book,
Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob, in which he spoke of his attempts to avoid being dragged into the
Mafia and having to fight for his reputation as a result of the Rosario Gambino case, which he cited as a reason for his leaving the NYPD. After meeting actor
Joe Pesci in Cafe Central, a restaurant frequented by celebrities, Eppolito had a minor career as an actor, with small roles in movies including
Lost Highway,
Predator 2 and
Goodfellas. He moved to Las Vegas around 1994 and sold automobiles at an
Infiniti dealership, where he would entertain fellow salesmen with crime scene photos from his time on the force. ==Mafia careers==