Friends of ours: Michael Giorango
Questions about loans to a convicted mobster are dominating the race for Illinois state treasurer. Alexi Giannoulias is laying low while studying the millions in loans his family’s bank made to the operator of a national call girl ring.
Christine Radogno is the Republican candidate for state treasurer. A veteran of the General Assembly, she faults her Democratic opponent for the confusing twists and turns he's taken trying to explain how he came to do business with a mob-connected ex-convict.
"You need someone who, one, knows what's going on, and, two, has the experience to handle the job," she said. "And I think both of those things are lacking based on what we've seen from the latest press release."
Alexi Giannoulias won a hotly contested Democratic primary for state treasurer last month by campaigning, in part, on the financial expertise he said he gained as a top banking executive.
Both before and after the election, Giannoulias claimed to know little or nothing about $15.4 million in loans his family's privately owned Broadway Bank granted to Michael Giorango, who's been convicted of running gambling and prostitution rings.
Of those mob-connected enterprises, Giannoulias said in a prepared statement: "What they did was wrong...inexcusable. If I had known...I do not believe...we would have approved those loans. (But) there was nothing illegal. I admit...I mishandled some questions."
His most prominent supporter, Sen. Barack Obama, wants answers, but is still on board. "I continue to believe Alexi is a person of good character and his experience will serve him in good stead as treasurer," Obama said.
Sen. Obama told CBS 2's Mike Flannery that he's advised Giannoulias that he needs to be sure the public statements he makes are accurate.
An aide to the candidate said Giannoulias is going to avoid making any public statements for the next week and will study his bank's loan portfolio, something Sen. Radogno finds very strange, since Giannoulias supposedly has been overseeing those very same loans for sometime now.
Thanks to Mike Flannery
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Mandalay Hopes "Mafia Cop" Produces Another Hit
Friends of ours: Lucchese Crime Family, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa
Mandalay Pictures has turned last week's national news headlines into a project titled "Mafia Cop", a film based on the life of highly decorated NYPD detective Louis Eppolito, who was found guilty, along with Steven Caracappa, of participating in eight murders, two attempted murders, one murder conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction of justice and drug distribution.
Mandalay has Eppolito's life rights as well as film rights to the book the highly decorated imprisoned detective penned with Bob Drury about his life . The case is being labelled as one of the worst police corruption scandals in New York's history and detailed accounts on the stand showed the men often used their power to commit crimes while feeding police intelligence to Mafia underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
Eppolito also has more than a dozen acting credits on his resume including Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas". Scribe Dan Gordon ("The Hurricane") who attended the three-week trial will pen the screenplay
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa
Mandalay Pictures has turned last week's national news headlines into a project titled "Mafia Cop", a film based on the life of highly decorated NYPD detective Louis Eppolito, who was found guilty, along with Steven Caracappa, of participating in eight murders, two attempted murders, one murder conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction of justice and drug distribution.
Mandalay has Eppolito's life rights as well as film rights to the book the highly decorated imprisoned detective penned with Bob Drury about his life . The case is being labelled as one of the worst police corruption scandals in New York's history and detailed accounts on the stand showed the men often used their power to commit crimes while feeding police intelligence to Mafia underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
Eppolito also has more than a dozen acting credits on his resume including Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas". Scribe Dan Gordon ("The Hurricane") who attended the three-week trial will pen the screenplay
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Two Decades Later, Family Sees Justice in New York 'Mafia Cops' Case
Friends of ours: Lucchese Crime Family, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, Gambino Crime Family, Jimmy Hydell, Eddie Lino
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa
In 1986, an unassuming jeweler named Israel Greenwald was secretly shot dead inside a Brooklyn garage and buried on the spot. His family had no clue he was executed _ or that two police detectives doubling as hit men for the Mafia were involved.
The family finally found a measure of peace on Thursday while on hand for guilty verdicts against Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa, the so-called "Mafia Cops". "Finally, justice has been served," Greenwald's 28-year-old daughter, Lea, told reporters outside a Brooklyn courtroom.
The convictions - which came two decades after the ex-detectives committed their first murder on orders from Luchese underboss Anthony ''Gaspipe'' Casso - closed perhaps the most astonishing police corruption case in city history.
"There has never been, in the history of the NYPD, an officer convicted of being a hit man for the mob," said Tom Reppetto, co-author of "American Mafia" and "NYPD," a department history.
"There's cases of police misconduct, but going to work for organized crime? Wow." The federal jury in Brooklyn deliberated for two days in the case against Eppolito and Caracappa, who spent a combined 44 years on the force and once worked as partners. The pair, who were immediately jailed after the verdict, face up to life in prison.
Neither defendant betrayed any emotion during the 10 minutes where the jury forewoman replied "proven" 70 times to the racketeering acts.
Eppolito, 57, whose father was a member of the Gambino crime family, and Caracappa, 64, were respected city detectives who moonlighted as hired killers for Casso between 1986 and 1990. In two of the slayings, they used their police credentials to make traffic stops that ended with the driver killed.
In another instance, the pair kidnapped a man suspected in an attempted mob hit against Casso and turned him over to the underboss. Casso, a remorseless mobster responsible for 36 slayings, reportedly tortured and killed Jimmy Hydell in September 1986.
The most shocking murder involved bad information provided by the detectives about another suspect in the Casso murder attempt. The tip led to the mistaken-identity murder of an innocent man killed as his mother washed the dishes following a Christmas Day family dinner.
U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein immediately revoked the defendants' $5 million bail pending their May 22 sentencing.
Hayes and Eppolito's attorney, Bruce Cutler, said they would appeal. "It's an appearance of justice, but it's not justice," Cutler told reporters outside court.
Prosecutors charged that the two used their positions as crime fighters to aid the crime family - at a price of $4,000 a month. Their salary increased when the detectives personally handled the killing, authorities said; they earned $65,000 for the slaying of mobster Eddie Lino during a phony traffic stop.
It was one of two slayings where the pair was directly involved.
A witness testified that Caracappa was present during the February 1986 slaying of Greenwald, who was allegedly cooperating with federal authorities. Jurors heard testimony from a parking lot attendant who described publicly for the first time how Eppolito stood guard while he was forced to dig a grave for the victim or face a bullet himself.
Another key prosecution witness was Burton Kaplan, an acknowledged drug dealer who spent four days on the stand linking the pair to an assortment of murders between 1986 and 1990. Kaplan testified that he served as a middleman between Casso and the detectives.
Before the defendants were led away to jail, Eppolito calmly removed his tie, belt and a gold chain from his bulky frame and handed them to one of his daughters. Left behindon the defense table were wrapping paper from Caracappa's Life Savers, a blank verdict sheet, some court transcripts and a fortune from a fortune cookie.
It read: "Wisdom is the principal thing."
Thanks to Tom Hays
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa
In 1986, an unassuming jeweler named Israel Greenwald was secretly shot dead inside a Brooklyn garage and buried on the spot. His family had no clue he was executed _ or that two police detectives doubling as hit men for the Mafia were involved.
The family finally found a measure of peace on Thursday while on hand for guilty verdicts against Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa, the so-called "Mafia Cops". "Finally, justice has been served," Greenwald's 28-year-old daughter, Lea, told reporters outside a Brooklyn courtroom.
The convictions - which came two decades after the ex-detectives committed their first murder on orders from Luchese underboss Anthony ''Gaspipe'' Casso - closed perhaps the most astonishing police corruption case in city history.
"There has never been, in the history of the NYPD, an officer convicted of being a hit man for the mob," said Tom Reppetto, co-author of "American Mafia" and "NYPD," a department history.
"There's cases of police misconduct, but going to work for organized crime? Wow." The federal jury in Brooklyn deliberated for two days in the case against Eppolito and Caracappa, who spent a combined 44 years on the force and once worked as partners. The pair, who were immediately jailed after the verdict, face up to life in prison.
Neither defendant betrayed any emotion during the 10 minutes where the jury forewoman replied "proven" 70 times to the racketeering acts.
Eppolito, 57, whose father was a member of the Gambino crime family, and Caracappa, 64, were respected city detectives who moonlighted as hired killers for Casso between 1986 and 1990. In two of the slayings, they used their police credentials to make traffic stops that ended with the driver killed.
In another instance, the pair kidnapped a man suspected in an attempted mob hit against Casso and turned him over to the underboss. Casso, a remorseless mobster responsible for 36 slayings, reportedly tortured and killed Jimmy Hydell in September 1986.
The most shocking murder involved bad information provided by the detectives about another suspect in the Casso murder attempt. The tip led to the mistaken-identity murder of an innocent man killed as his mother washed the dishes following a Christmas Day family dinner.
U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein immediately revoked the defendants' $5 million bail pending their May 22 sentencing.
Hayes and Eppolito's attorney, Bruce Cutler, said they would appeal. "It's an appearance of justice, but it's not justice," Cutler told reporters outside court.
Prosecutors charged that the two used their positions as crime fighters to aid the crime family - at a price of $4,000 a month. Their salary increased when the detectives personally handled the killing, authorities said; they earned $65,000 for the slaying of mobster Eddie Lino during a phony traffic stop.
It was one of two slayings where the pair was directly involved.
A witness testified that Caracappa was present during the February 1986 slaying of Greenwald, who was allegedly cooperating with federal authorities. Jurors heard testimony from a parking lot attendant who described publicly for the first time how Eppolito stood guard while he was forced to dig a grave for the victim or face a bullet himself.
Another key prosecution witness was Burton Kaplan, an acknowledged drug dealer who spent four days on the stand linking the pair to an assortment of murders between 1986 and 1990. Kaplan testified that he served as a middleman between Casso and the detectives.
Before the defendants were led away to jail, Eppolito calmly removed his tie, belt and a gold chain from his bulky frame and handed them to one of his daughters. Left behindon the defense table were wrapping paper from Caracappa's Life Savers, a blank verdict sheet, some court transcripts and a fortune from a fortune cookie.
It read: "Wisdom is the principal thing."
Thanks to Tom Hays
Monday, April 10, 2006
Stephen Caracappa
Stephen Caracappa is former policemen from New York City who retired in 1980. In 2005, Caracappa and his former partner, Louis Eppolito, were charged with carrying out various crimes, including murder, on behalf of the Lucchese Crime Family during the 1980's while they were still NYPD detectives. The media has dubbed the pair the "Mafia Cops".
Both men, who were lifelong friends, moved to Las Vegas following their retirement.
In 1994, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, a member of the Lucchese crime family, became an informant and first brought the authority's attention to Caracappa and Eppolito. Amongst other things he alleged that, in 1986, the two policemen kidnapped and murdered a member of the Gambino family named James Hydell on the orders of rival mobsters.
After a long investigation, both Caracappa and Eppolito were arrested in March 2005 and charged with racketeering, obstruction of justice and eight counts of murder, including that of James Hydell. They are also accused of conspiring to murder Sammy Gravano, the famous informant who helped put John Gotti behind bars.
Caracappa and Eppolito were convicted in April of 2006. On June 30th, the Judge in that case threw out the murder convictions and granted the two a new trial on money laundering and drug charges.
Chicago Syndicate Articles with Stephen Caracappa
Mafia Cops Request Bail
Mafia Detectives Risks Mafia Cops Case
Mafia Cops Judge to Rule on Bail After Vacation Cruise
Mother of Mafia Cops Victim Pleads with Mayor Bloomberg
Convictions Tossed in "Mafia Cops" Case
Judge Throws Out Murder Conviction in Mafia Cops Case
Mafia Cop Trial Defense Was "Excellent" Judge Says
Mafia Cop Testifies It's True He's a Liar
Yet Another Chapter in Mafia Cops Case
Private Eye Who Investigated Mafia Cops Attacked
A Family Torn Apart by Mafia Cops
Bruce Lost His Bite
Last Shot for "Mafia Cops": Lawyers Did It
The Badge Still Shines
Mafia Cops to Face Life Term
Mafia Cops Face Life in Prison at Sentencing
Kin of "Mafia Cops" Victims Sue NYPD
Mop Cop Will Make Case for Poor Defense
Judge: Basis for Appeal in 'Mafia Cops' Trial
It's Splitsville!
Mob Cop's Daughter Begs Judge: Free Dad
Mafia Cop's Bizarre Nondefense
After Conviction "Mafia Cop" Insists It was a Perfect Frame
Mafia Cop Raped Me, Gal Says
Mandalay Hopes "Mafia Cop" Produces Another Hit
Two Decades Later, Family Sees Justice in New York 'Mafia Cops' Case
He's Got Courage of Clients' Convictions
NYPD Detectives Convicted of Mob Murders
"Mafia Cops" Convicted of Murder
Defense in "Mafia Cops" Trial Closes in a Blaze of Name-Calling
Closing Arguments Begin in Colorful 'Mafia Cops' Trial
Key Witness to be Recalled in Trial of 2 'Mafia Cops'
Judge Denies Mistrial for "Mafia Cops"
In Mob Trial, a Spotlight on a Rogue
Time for "Mafia Cop" to Honor his Family
Man Says "Mafia Cops" Ordered Him to Dig Grave
'Mafia cops' trial has new sidebar
Mama Gets Her shot at 'Mob cops'
Drug Dealer Testifies That He Met Accused 'Mafia Cops' in Cemetery
Police Accused of Mafia Ties Head to Trial
Trial Begins of NY Cops Charged as Mafia Hit Men
Real Dons Steal Sopranos Limelight
Bad Cops First, Then Mob Cops?
Dramatic mob trials still fill the seats
Detectives Who Broke "Mafia Cops" Case Won't Testify At Trial
'Mafia Cops' prosecutors drop two murders
Murdered man's mother files $150M suit against city, 'Mafia Cops'
Alleged mob cop's wife arrested for tax evasion
Alleged Mafia Cop Speaks Out
"Mafia" Cop Had a Mole
New charges for 'Mafia cops'
OMERTA WANTED FROM 'MOB' LAWYERS
Will DNA testing clear the "Mafia Cops"?
'MAFIA COP' LIVID OVER MURDER-FRAME ACCUSATION
'Mafia Cops' lawyers demanding witness information
Did cops double as mob hit men?
He's Got Courage of Clients' Convictions
Friends of mine: Stephen Caracappa, Louis Eppolito
It was barely an hour after the jury came back in Brooklyn, carrying a verdict no defense attorney ever wants to hear. And Edward Hayes obviously wasn't enjoying this one.
His client, Stephen Caracappa, was one of the alleged "Mafia cops. " Caracappa had just been convicted in a racketeering conspiracy that included carrying out multiple hits for the mob.
"You lose a big case, and you feel awful," Hayes was saying, back now at his law office in midtown. "And then you win big cases, and you feel great. That's the life I've chosen. I worked like an animal. I did a good job for the guy. In this line of work, you're supposed to put the government to the test. I feel like I did that. Unfortunately, the jury convicted anyway. "
Even the greatest lawyers lose cases. If a lawyer says he's never lost one, don't even think of hiring him. He can't be trusted. He's already lying to you. But that's not Ed Hayes' way. He'll face the music, all of it, even on the toughest of days. And he wasn't hiding now.
It's a story and an ethos he's revealed in an eye-popping tell-all, "Mouthpiece: A Life in - and Sometimes Just Outside - the Law." From an abusive upbringing in working-class Queens. To a mind-expanding time at the University of Virginia and Columbia Law. To a stint as a homicide prosecutor in the Bronx. To a law career representing the likes of Lizzie Grubman, Sean Combs, Daniel Libeskind and the Andy Warhol estate. Ed Hayes is the quintessential behind-the-scenes New York power player and the first-call mop-up man in 10021.
At one time or another, he has been a source for most of the newspaper columnists in New York - and a lawyer for at least half of them, now including Jared Paul Stern, the alleged "Page Six" extortionist at the New York Post. He's a rare combination: fop and tough guy, well-connected and street-smart, a genuine Irish knock-around who can still sit down to dinner with Anna Wintour and Si Newhouse. Of course, his pal Tom Wolfe wrote the introduction to the book. But here was the ultimate test for Hayes, who's been touted and toasted plenty in the nine weeks since "Mouthpiece" came out. Would he still be a stand-up guy when the chips were down? Or would he suddenly slink away and hide?
I'm here to report that Ed Hayes did not slink. In fact, he sounded downright gracious, given all that had just occurred.
"You had very good prosecutors," he said of the Brooklyn-based team that pursued Caracappa and co-defendant Louis Eppolito. "The case was very well-investigated. They came up with stuff, like my client took a day off the day someone was murdered. And the jurors totally believed the main government witness, Burt Kaplan," an undeniable bad guy who ratted out the two ex-cops.
Just as ardently - even more so - Hayes stood by his freshly convicted client. "I really don't believe he did it, and I'm happy to represent him," Hayes said. "I never saw any indication that he would do this sort of thing. And where was the motive? You understand what I'm saying? He didn't need money. His wife made a very good living. He made a good living. Why take this kind of risk? I didn't see it. "
What Hayes did see was another stand-up guy. "He's got a lovely wife," the "Mouthpiece" lawyer said of his latest client. "He's very close to her. It's gonna be pretty grim.
"He is a very strong guy who takes very good care of his emotions. He's very careful about that. He showed some emotion after the verdict. But he is a very strong guy. He said, 'Eddie, don't worry. It'll be OK. I said to myself, 'Jesus, this guy is worried about me, and last night is his last free night.
Thanks to Ellis Henican
It was barely an hour after the jury came back in Brooklyn, carrying a verdict no defense attorney ever wants to hear. And Edward Hayes obviously wasn't enjoying this one.
His client, Stephen Caracappa, was one of the alleged "Mafia cops. " Caracappa had just been convicted in a racketeering conspiracy that included carrying out multiple hits for the mob.
"You lose a big case, and you feel awful," Hayes was saying, back now at his law office in midtown. "And then you win big cases, and you feel great. That's the life I've chosen. I worked like an animal. I did a good job for the guy. In this line of work, you're supposed to put the government to the test. I feel like I did that. Unfortunately, the jury convicted anyway. "
Even the greatest lawyers lose cases. If a lawyer says he's never lost one, don't even think of hiring him. He can't be trusted. He's already lying to you. But that's not Ed Hayes' way. He'll face the music, all of it, even on the toughest of days. And he wasn't hiding now.
It's a story and an ethos he's revealed in an eye-popping tell-all, "Mouthpiece: A Life in - and Sometimes Just Outside - the Law." From an abusive upbringing in working-class Queens. To a mind-expanding time at the University of Virginia and Columbia Law. To a stint as a homicide prosecutor in the Bronx. To a law career representing the likes of Lizzie Grubman, Sean Combs, Daniel Libeskind and the Andy Warhol estate. Ed Hayes is the quintessential behind-the-scenes New York power player and the first-call mop-up man in 10021.
At one time or another, he has been a source for most of the newspaper columnists in New York - and a lawyer for at least half of them, now including Jared Paul Stern, the alleged "Page Six" extortionist at the New York Post. He's a rare combination: fop and tough guy, well-connected and street-smart, a genuine Irish knock-around who can still sit down to dinner with Anna Wintour and Si Newhouse. Of course, his pal Tom Wolfe wrote the introduction to the book. But here was the ultimate test for Hayes, who's been touted and toasted plenty in the nine weeks since "Mouthpiece" came out. Would he still be a stand-up guy when the chips were down? Or would he suddenly slink away and hide?
I'm here to report that Ed Hayes did not slink. In fact, he sounded downright gracious, given all that had just occurred.
"You had very good prosecutors," he said of the Brooklyn-based team that pursued Caracappa and co-defendant Louis Eppolito. "The case was very well-investigated. They came up with stuff, like my client took a day off the day someone was murdered. And the jurors totally believed the main government witness, Burt Kaplan," an undeniable bad guy who ratted out the two ex-cops.
Just as ardently - even more so - Hayes stood by his freshly convicted client. "I really don't believe he did it, and I'm happy to represent him," Hayes said. "I never saw any indication that he would do this sort of thing. And where was the motive? You understand what I'm saying? He didn't need money. His wife made a very good living. He made a good living. Why take this kind of risk? I didn't see it. "
What Hayes did see was another stand-up guy. "He's got a lovely wife," the "Mouthpiece" lawyer said of his latest client. "He's very close to her. It's gonna be pretty grim.
"He is a very strong guy who takes very good care of his emotions. He's very careful about that. He showed some emotion after the verdict. But he is a very strong guy. He said, 'Eddie, don't worry. It'll be OK. I said to myself, 'Jesus, this guy is worried about me, and last night is his last free night.
Thanks to Ellis Henican
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