Mop Cop Will Make Case for Poor Defense

Friends of ours: John "Dapper Don" Gotti
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Carappa

Mob cop Louis Eppolito will be allowed to air his gripes about his flashy former lawyer Bruce Cutler - who he says defended him poorly at his murder trial.

At the convicted killer's request, Brooklyn federal Judge Jack Weinstein ordered lawyers back into court June 29 to hash out the matter, including Cutler. "Defense counsel spent the majority of Mr. Eppolito's closing argument speaking about himself, including [that] he lost 14 pounds during trial," new lawyer Joseph Bondy said in a court document.

The ostentatious lawyer and client parted ways in late April after the conviction. Eppolito and Cutler had even argued about the defense, which lasted about 12 minutes.

Cutler, who also defended late mob boss "Dapper Don" John Gotti, didn't respond to a request for comment yesterday.

The hearing is unlikely to have an impact on whether Weinstein will throw out the conviction, because the judge has already hinted strongly that he would let an appeals court decide the matter. The murder conviction could be reversed due to statute-of-limitations considerations.

Eppolito and fellow mob cop Stephen Caracappa are to be sentenced on May 22. The pair face life in the slammer.

The two were convicted of committing a slew of gangland slayings in the late '80s and early '90s while wearing their shields, as well as dealing drugs in Las Vegas in 2004.

Thanks to Heidi Singer

NY "Mafia" Firm is Closed

Friends of ours: Gambino Crime Family, Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, Edward Garofola, Michael "Mickey Scars" DiLeonardo

New York City has ordered a mob-tainted construction company at the center of former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik's bribe-taking probe to shut down because the owners "lacked character, honesty and integrity,". The Bloomberg administration's decision to deny permits for Interstate Materials Corp. to work within the five boroughs followed a ruling by the city's Business Integrity Commission that ripped into owners Peter and Frank DiTommaso, officials said.

According to officials, the BIC, formerly known as the Trade Waste Commission, quietly issued a "supplemental ruling" on Interstate's mob connections last fall that determined the company was not fit to do business in or with the city.

The commission also determined the DiTommasos bought the company from two major Gambino crime-family figures - Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano's brother-in-law, Edward Garofola, and Michael "Mickey Scars" DiLeonardo - merely to help the mobsters "avoid regulatory scrutiny and preserve the mob's influence over the transfer station," commission Chairman Thomas McCormack wrote.

Nearly two months later, the city Sanitation Department yanked "temporary" permits allowing Interstate to operate its massive "clean-fill material" facility on Staten Island for the past 10 years. City officials also instructed Interstate that it had until New Year's Eve to shut down.

Interstate obtained a stay from the Richmond County Supreme Court challenging the edict. A final decision regarding the city's right to cut off Interstate is expected shortly, Sanitation Department spokesman Vito Turso said.

Meanwhile, in The Bronx, a grand jury is continuing to probe whether Interstate paid for nearly $200,000 worth of apartment renovations for Kerik, then city correction commissioner.

It is also investigating whether the firm hired his brother, Donald, and a one-time close friend, Lawrence Ray, in exchange for getting Kerik to go to bat with the Trade Waste Commission. Kerik and the DiTommasos have denied any wrongdoing.

Sources say the Bronx grand jury will be asked in two weeks to indict Kerik.

Thanks to Murray Weis

Judge: Basis for Appeal in 'Mafia Cops' Trial

Friends of ours: Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

The judge who presided over the trial of two former police detectives convicted of moonlighting as hit men for the mob denied the defendants' request to overturn the verdict, but the judge acknowledged there is basis for an appeal.

Louis Eppolito and former New York Police Department partner Stephen Caracappa were convicted on April 6 of participating in eight killings while on the payroll of a Mafia underboss, Anthony Casso.

Their lawyers appeared before U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein Wednesday.

Weinstein says "It was not a strong case, and the government was warned that from day one.'' Eppolito and Caracappa were respected detectives who worked as hired killers for Casso from 1986 to 1990. In two of the slayings, they used their police credentials to make traffic stops that ended with the drivers killed.

Strippers + Golf + Police + The Chicago Mob = Lawsuit

Friends of ours: James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello

Strippers on a golf course, some suburban police and the Chicago mob. They all come together in an unusual lawsuit that is the subject of this Intelligence Report. The case follows an I-Team report from 2002.

Several patrolmen from west suburban Northlake lost their jobs after participating in a police golf outing that featured exotic dancers acting as caddies. That was almost four years ago. Now, one of the former cops who attended the outing is suing Northlake and its police chief for allegedly smearing his reputation and blackballing him with other police departments.

I-Team surveillance spotted Northlake police officers and some local business leaders gathering with female caddies in the summer of 2002. The women had been deployed to the golf outing from their full-time place of employment: Allstars Gentlemen's Club in west suburban Northlake where they work as strippers or barmaids.

"They were dressed just like anybody else going to a golf outing. I doubt any of the golfers knew if they were waitresses or nurses or whatever, and they were working spending their time their day for a good cause helping people get scholarships, and frankly we applaud the Northlake lodge for the efforts that they are doing," said David Wickster, FOP labor council.

Among the outing organizers was veteran lawman Ementi Coary, a Northlake patrolman. After the I-Team report revealed these 18-hole antics, there was an internal investigation of Coary and several other cops who all resigned.

"The outing in question was not a sanctioned by the police department or city," said Chief Dennis Koletsos, Northlake police. But Chief Dennis Koletsos is being sued by ex-officer Coary for slander and allegedly breaching their agreement that Coary's history would not be revealed to any prospective employers.

In the Cook County suit, Coary says he was not hired for a police position in Rosemont after Koletsos revealed he had a videotape of Coary taking cash from the mob-connected strip club and has telephone records of Coary in phone conversations with Chicago outfit boss James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello.

Coary denies the charges and Chief Koletsos says he never made the comments alleged in the lawsuit.

There is another curious element to this story. The Northlake police produced a slick, 20-minute video to recruit new officers. The tape is accessible on Northlake's web site. But four years after Northlake's police department was embarrassed by a stripper golf outing, the officers involved-, resigned long ago, are still on Northlake's recruitment tape.

Even disgraced officer Ementi Coary, who claims the chief has framed him as being mobbed up and is now suing the department, is still starring in their video.

The police chief says Northlake doesn't have enough money to edit out Coary and the others from that recruitment tape. As for the suit, the chief said "when you open Pandora's box, you never know what's going to come out."

Coary now works as part-time policeman in Melrose Park.

Thanks to Chuck Goudie

The Mafia Guide to Succeeding in Business

California based Network Media, Inc. has released a new Web site that shows how entrepreneurs can learn valuable business lessons from the Mafia.

MafiaGuide is based on the lifelong friendship that a company associate shared with a reputed mob boss, and his list of "rules" for succeeding in business." Network Media President, Christopher Stewart, calls the Web site the first of its kind.

"The Mafia Guide to Succeeding in Business draws positive business lessons from a nefarious source," says Stewart. "That's the obvious hook. However, as visitors to the Web site will quickly see, the lessons learned are powerful and invaluable to anyone either starting a business or building one."

The Web site is a teaser for the upcomming book, The Mafia Guide to Starting a Small Business, which is currently in production.

'Sopranos' in Trouble with the Law

Two "Sopranos" actors are in trouble with the law, according to a report published Tuesday.

According to a report in the New York Post, John Ventimiglia, who plays chef Artie Bucco on the show, was arrested on charges of drunken driving and cocaine possession about a block from his Brooklyn home.

Also, Louis Gross, the actor who plays Tony Soprano's new bodyguard, has been charged in a Queens break-in. Gross was previously arrested on shoplifting charges in February.

Mafia Cop Reportedly Can't Afford New Lawyer

Friends of mine: Stephen Caracappa, Louis Eppolito

Convicted Mafia cop Stephen Caracappa is broke and can't afford to hire a new lawyer, according to a published report. The former Great Kills resident is $250,000 in debt, according to court papers filed this week, the Daily News reported.

Caracappa is also reportedly unhappy with his representation. In a letter to Federal Judge Jack Weinstein, Dominick Caracappa, Stephen's brother, wrote that "the defense attorneys failed to address" the defendants' relationship with members of the mob.

Caracappa's attorney Edward Hayes, who is not owed money by Caracappa, told the Daily News that his client "needs a fresh look at the case and someone who can knock me if that's what the appeal needs."

Caracappa and his former partner Louis Eppolito were convicted earlier this month of being hit men for the Mafia and face life in prison without a chance of parole when sentenced.

Thanks to Staten Island Advance

Heat Surrounds Sheriff For Alleged Mob Association

Friends of mine: Rick Rizzolo, Freddie Glusman

A candidate for Orange County sheriff called Thursday for the resignation of Sheriff Mike Carona in the wake of a published report and photos showing Carona in a cozy pose with a man identified as a mob associate.

Ralph Martin, a commander in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and an Orange County resident, is one of two current and one retired law enforcement officers running against Carona in the June 6 primary.

Martin said an article in the O.C. Weekly and accompanying photos show Carona smiling while the arm of Rick Rizzolo, a man the FBI has called a mob associate, is draped over Carona's shoulder. Carona is in uniform.

The article also contains photos of Carona with Freddie Glusman, owner of the Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach and Piero's in Las Vegas, and Gary Primm, owner of a Nevada casino. Both Glusman and Primm, according to the Weekly, are Carona contributors and were sworn in as departmental reserve deputies before they were cleared through background checks. Michael Schroeder, campaign advisor for Carona, could not be reached for immediate comment.

Martin said he saw the pictures Wednesday for the first time. "Rick Rizzolo is a known Mafia associate," Martin said. "He owns a strip club up in Vegas and he has a criminal background."

The picture, he said, was taken at the Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach, "during some ceremony. We know the sheriff is in uniform, and (it is) obviously a social gathering. They look to be pretty close here."

Pointing to another photo, Martin said Carona is "in the middle giving deputy reserve sheriff's badges to Glusman, who likes to associate with the Mafia especially at his (Newport Beach) restaurant and another one in Vegas."

Martin said Glusman likes to host a clientele that is known to law enforcement officers. "His places are hangouts for known mobsters," Martin said. Martin said he does not know of any criminal background for Primm. "I don't know if he has one," Martin said. "What I saw today was really over the top for Orange County's sheriff," Martin said of the photos. Organized crime agents, according to the Weekly, say the Rizzolo posed for the shot at the Ritz sometime between 2002-04.

Rizzolo, according to investigators, is tied to Chicago and New York organized crime families, and has been described by the Las Vegas Review Journal as a target of an ongoing corruption probe.

The Orange County Register reported in November that Carona accepted a contribution of $1,500 from Rizzolo, and Carona's media consultants acknowledged the men met two or three times.

Two weeks ago, according to the Weekly, Carona's spokesmen said they were "clueless" about Rizzolo's occupation and mob ties.

Glusman, according to the Weekly, flashed his sheriff's badge during a parking space dispute with a former officer, who reported it to police. Glusman resigned before an internal affairs investigation was completed, the Weekly reported.

Carona drew criticism for appointing political allies to reserve deputy positions in 1999 over the objections of the department's own background investigators. According to published reports, Carona appointed 86 allies, friends and relatives to the reserve program, before background checks were completed and days before the state stiffened training requirements. They were later removed from the state's peace officer database after it was determined the checks were incomplete, but the Sheriff's Department allowed the reservists to keep their badges and in some cases, department-issued guns.

Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Times reported that a handgun belonging to a reserve Orange County sheriff's deputy turned up at the mansion of the former video game executive accused of crashing a Ferrari in Malibu in February.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies confiscated the gun during a raid at the Bel-Air home of Bo Stefan Eriksson, who faces grand theft, embezzlement and driving under the influence charges related to the accident, and detectives were trying to determine how Eriksson came in possession of the weapon.

A sheriff's department spokesman told The Times that the .357 magnum Smith & Wesson was registered to Roger A. Davis, a Newport Beach businessman and deputy with the Orange County sheriff's professional services division.

Davis was issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon by the Orange County Sheriff's Department in August 2002 for protection, and detectives were still trying to sort out Davis' connection to Eriksson.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, said the gun was a key piece of evidence. Prosecutors have charged Eriksson with a weapons violation because, as a convicted felon, he is not allowed to possess a firearm.

Martin said the article and photos are "really more a reflection of the failed reserve program that (Carona) calls the professional services reserve program."

"These names have been around, but we've never realized at this point that they were sworn in," Martin said.

Martin said Carona, within the last six months, returned the $1,500 donation from Rizzolo. "If any of (Carona's) deputies were found to be associated with any criminals and internal affairs investigation would be launched and they would be disciplined and terminated," Martin said.