299. Mafia's Finest: Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito

It is November 6th, 1990. The air was crisp, the Belt Parkway humming with the usual New York traffic. Among the cars was Eddie Lino—an old-school Gambino enforcer, a man whose name carried weight in the city's underworld. He’d spent years dodging the law. But this time, the flashing red and blue lights in his rearview weren’t just another routine hassle. As the unmarked car closed in, Lino must’ve felt it—something was off. Before he could react, gunfire rang out. The ambush was clean and professional in a city where power shifts with a trigger pull; Eddie Lino’s time was up. For a man who had made a living by the gun, there were only two ways out: a prison cell or a body bag. Lino avoided the first. And he paid his dues in full on that Brooklyn highway in 1992. Dirty cops and the mob—nothing new in New York. But this case? This was different. Two high-ranking NYPD detectives weren’t just looking the other way; they worked for the Lucchese crime family, pulling jobs and covering tracks for over a decade. They didn’t just take bribes—they were on the payroll.

Join Cam and Jen on this episode of Our True Crime Podcast entitled ‘Mafia's Finest: Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito.’


Listener discretion by @octoberpodVHS

Music is by our editor @theinkypawprint

Sources:
Mafia Cops Interview - Louis Eppolito on the Sally Jesse Raphael show

https://www.amazon.com/Mafia-Cop-Lou-Eppolito/dp/1416517014

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/mafia-cops-louis-eppolito-stephen-caracappa-sentenced-life-prison-article-1.366777

https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nye/pr/2009/2009mar06b.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/15ygama/louis_eppolito_on_sally_jesse_raphael_1992/

https://nypost.com/2005/07/07/victims-mom-fingered-mafia-cop-from-tv-talk-show/

https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nye/pr/2005/2005mar10.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/nyregion/louis-eppolito-dead.html

https://www.silive.com/news/2017/04/report_mob_cop_with_staten_isl.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20170412190201/http://gothamist.com/2017/04/12/nypd_cop_turned_mafia_hitman_dies_i.php

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1532561.htmlhttps://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-mafia-cop-louis-eppolito-dead-20191105-55tnkoq4f5amvm5555qcp3fb34-story.html

https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nye/pr/2009/2009mar06b.html

http://www.ipsn.org/indictments/caracappa_indictment/caracappa_indictment_newest.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20060111191537/https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/05/60minutes/main1180833.shtml

http://www.ipsn.org/indictments/caracappa_indictment/caracappa_indictment_newest.htm