Ex-NY detectives sentenced to life for mob murders

NEW YORK - Two former New York police detectives were sentenced to life in prison on Monday after they were convicted of using their badges to help commit murder on behalf of organized crime.

Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, convicted by a federal jury in early April of eight murders for the Luchese crime family, learned their fate in stark terms from US District Court Judge Jack Weinstein.

"In terms of risk to the public, this is probably the most heinous series of crimes ever tried in this courthouse," the judge said.

After relatives of the victims spoke in court and pleaded for the life sentences, Eppolito also spoke for the first time in the high-profile case. He said he understood their pain.

"Sometimes I was the person who had to knock on doors to tell of a death in the family," the former police detective said.

He also invited the family members to visit him in prison. "I think I will prove to them I didn't hurt anybody," he said.

Defence lawyers had argued the men were framed by turncoat mobsters and others seeking government leniency for their own misdeeds.

The jury found Eppolito and Caracappa guilty of eight murders from 1986 to 1990 - three contract killings carried out directly and five others in which they provided assistance.

Eppolito, 57, and Caracappa, 64, were paid some US$375,000 for their deeds, evidence showed.

Working for the mob, the pair sometimes stopped their victims by using the flashing lights of their police patrol car, prosecutors said.

One victim was found in the trunk of a car with a canary in his mouth.

The three-week trial in Brooklyn federal court also included testimony from a man who revealed he helped bury one of the bodies, a secret he kept for 20 years.

The case was tinged with show business, as several book deals are in the works and Eppolito had a career in movies, appearing in Martin Scorsese's mob movie "Goodfellas."

The sentences, including US$1 million fines, were not formally imposed, pending defence motions for acquittal and a new trial. A hearing on those motions was set for June 23.

- REUTERS