Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob

by Lou Eppolito, Bob Drury

A man who turned his back on the mob to become the eleventh most decorated New York City cop in history describes his twenty-year career and how he was falsely accused of selling secrets to the mob.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction, Memoir

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Lou Eppolito was one of the most highly decorated policemen in the history of the New York Police Department.

The son of a New York mobster Eppolito was a New York City police officer from 1969 - 1990. Eppolito and his former partner Stephen Caracappa were also on the Mob's payroll At first they provided intelligence and then, later , murdered rival mobsters.

Indicted in March 2005, with his retired partner Stephen Caracappa, for providing information about key witnesses and confidential informants to the Lucchese crime family. They were also charged with carrying out mob murders, and turning over individuals to the crime family's boss, who called Eppolito and Caracappa "my crystal ball." The two former NYPD cops were found guilty in April 2006. The conviction was overturned on a technicality, then reinstated on appeal in 2008. In 2009, he was sentenced to life plus 100 years in prison.

Eppolito was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Tucson, a high-security federal prison. He died on November 3, 2019 in federal custody.

Reviews

[Checkman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well it's an interesting work of fiction. Lou Eppolito was dirty right up to his hairline - actually he was totally submerged. A murderer among many other things; he was a Mafia Cop alright, bought and paid for. He's currently in Federal prison and will probably never see the light of day as a free man...…one hopes (Eppolito passed away in 2019....still incarcerated at the time of his death.)

Anyway in light of those events that took place after this book was published it's easy to recognize this book for what it is. The lies and fabrications of a man who knew that people were onto him (evidently he had become a suspect in the mid-eighties but it can take a while to build a case against guys working at this level) so he deflects. I've been an officer for many years now and deflecting is one of the things suspects do. They loudly proclaim their innocence and shout to the rooftops that they're the victim of a ruthless conspiracy/persecution. Frequently they're the only ones who are standing up for truth, justice and the American Way.

They'll tell you ,if you listen (or don't), which is what Lou Eppolito is doing here at top volume. If I had read this book back in the mid-nineties (when it was first published) I might have considered that old classic Shakespeare line "Methinks thou dost protest too much." However, the book really isn't that bad. It's all bullshit, but readable bullshit. I suggest it for those who are curious about the real-life "criminal mind" and how it works. Frequently criminals can be charming people. Amusing, fun to talk to and immensely likeable. More than once ,over the years, I've found myself liking the suspect and despising the victim. Lou Eppolito is an outstanding example of the criminal personality.

Strange book.

UPDATE 09/12/2020
Eppolito passed away from undisclosed cause ,or causes, on November 3, 2019.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goodfellas it ain't. Godfather it isn't. Married to the Mob - eh sorta. Fun read, good anecdotes.

[Chad Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read especially knowing when I read it he and his partner were already indicted for being dirtballs. Funny to see how someone can spin their life story into a such a work of fiction. There are other books that tell the truth about Epillito and what he really did.

[Richard T. Wisp · Rating 1 out of 5]

An absolute killer of a lame excuse for a whiners pity party.A hit man with a persecution complex.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 2 out of 5]

And interesting book. Kind of. Maybe. Maybe not. I'm still not sure what the book is about. Overtly it's the biography of Lou Eppolito, raised in a Mafia family and who decided to become an NYC police officer. Okay, except it wasn't a thoughtful decision, more a lark than anything else. And while he gave up all his Mafia ties (for most of the book), he never really gave up his Mafia ways (beliefs, attitudes and the like). He was the target of bigotry, prejudice and a witch hunt but that doesn't show up until the last sixty pages of the book and you know going in that he left the force to become an actor (and got movie roles) so there's no real suspense. Do a little digging and you learn he's serving a life sentence + 100 years (so his corpse can take up a cell?) so you learn the book is bull.
Was it man against the system? Man against himself? Man against an okay story working hard at being a fascinating story? The underdog coming out on top? An okay afternoon read? A waste of an afternoon?
Not a keeper, not worth a second read. Probably a good beach/vacation book. Maybe a good research read. You decide.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book 3 1/2 stars. Sad to think that someone could be set up like that!!!

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good read,i think he(the author)is now in prison considering he was a «mafia»cop

[John Metcalfe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This bloke was the 11th best detective in the NYPD which he kept telling us in the book! The straightest cop he said.

Spoiler he died in prison after a few mafia killings😂😂😂

[Tara Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. It's sad that people can be targeted.

[Dave Goldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read, unfortunately, what happened 13/14 years to the protagonist after publication of this book lends a lack of credibility to its' narrative.

[Alisa Scheps · Rating 3 out of 5]

the topic is very interesting but it was difficult to follow.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book about the career of Louie Eppolito. To be fair, Eppolito had a significant career as a decorated cop in NYC. A former bodybuilder, Eppolito ballooned to a tremendous size in the last couple decades.

Eppolito's accolades are heavily discounted by Rob Oldham's Book. Later convicted of murder for hire paid by Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso along with Steve Carracappa, Eppolito is now serving a long prison sentence for several activities with the New York mafia.

This book is largely exaggerated, written by a HIGHLY suspect scumbag cop. Ironically, this book itself lead to Eppolito and his partners' downfall, and was used in the trials.

Decent read if you are going to go through the whole set of books which work through the downfall of the two "Mafia" cops. These two ultimately convicted of murdering for the mob.

I read this some time before the story of the two "Mafia Cops" hit the headlines. Your call on whether you would want to read this first, then read Rob Oldham's book.

[Armend · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is my favorite book of this year so far because while I was reading it I read about Lou Eppolito's trail in the newspaper. The book also has an interesting format in the sense that the chapters are actually different times in Lou's life and how his Mafia family played a role in it. For example one scene from the book always will be remembered because when Lou was a little boy and was in religion class and the priest was trying to make a point and he slapped Lou, later that night Lou told his father and his father took Lou with him to watch while he beat up the priest. This is most likely the most remarkable scene because there mobsters thought of themselves as so big that they can even beat up priests.

[Wei Feng · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this book because this book was about the mafia and how a boy with mafia heritage became a cop. but what i liked most about this book was it was very descriptive, and and it included qoutes from the author, Lou Eppolito in it. Plus, the idea of mafia is cool because i live in Little Italy, and that is a italian place. i would like to think that long ago, the gangsters and mafia once lived in little italy, thus making it related to the book. armend and i both liked this book, thus i would recommend this book to people who likes to read about historic things that has happened in the past.

[Walt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eppolito does not send much time discussing the mob in this book. He portrays himself as a tough cop constantly battling his family's ties to organized crime. It is entertaining. I am sure many people would sympathize with his tough guy (bully) attitudes towards criminals.

The book is even more interesting in light that he was later convicted in court of murdering several people on behalf of the mob. Since the indictments came twenty years after this book, and just after he retired from the NYPD, I wonder how long law enforcement people knew of his duplicity and why they waited so long to act against him.

[Eli Panagap.]

i loved this book. i thought it was so cool to see a first hand encounter with the famous mafia family the eppolitos. i really enjoy movies about gangsters and while reading this book i really got into all the crime and the struggle between honor and loyalty. the book had this theme on whether or not to do the right thing. Lou was stuck in between being under the wing of his father and joining organized crime or continue his own path in being a cop. through the authors writing we get to see the struggle Lou has to go through and how he was raised affected the decision he made.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mediocre and confusing book. It talks about a man, Lou, who is a cop, yet has ties to a mafia. Being through both sides, he see's the morality one side has over the other. Ironically it is the cops who are more evil and unjust rather than the mafia. This story unfolds into a very complex plot that is confusing yet interesting. I believe it is worth reading, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves books about the maifa.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yet another one I found in the bathroom. I think this one was written to try to prove this man's innocence. I'm not buying it. Mob son grows up to be a cop who busts people's asses then gets brought down by jealous cops who don't like the fact that he doesn't kiss ass. Yeah, that's not my thing.

[Dane Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

It got two stars because it was an easy read. Collectively, the whole thing was an eye roll. This was clearly a crooked cop writing a book to paint himself in a better light than he deserved. Filled with a lot of embellished tales of cop heroics and crowning achievements. Glad its over.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of an ominous book considering Eppolito's more recent convictions for murder. Apparently this whole book was just PR? So very strange.

[Nancy Fornataro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely riveting, and very well written, a boy raised in a Mafia family decides to be a cop! Highly recommend this book for all true crime fans!

[Arthur Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great this book gives you a lot of insight on how bad corruption was inside the nypd. This book will keep you reading wanting more and more

[Michael Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must Read

Makes one wonder how good cops can be respected on the streets when IA can drum up lies to ruin whole families. I remember this time well having drove truck in NYC

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun page turner that got me hooked pretty quickly. Knowing everything that occurred after it was published, I don’t know the exact word to use but hilarious most closely captures it.