The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia

by Guy Lawson, William Oldham

From inside the heart of the NYPD - The shattering police corruption scandal and the trial that stunned a city.

Detective Stephen Caracappa achieved the distinguished rank of first grade detectve while under the hire of the Luchese crime family.

Detective Louis Eppolito worked the heart of Brooklyn's mobland; he himself was the son of a Gambino crime family soldier.

Detective William Oldham, the lead investigator on major organized-crime cases, quietly and relentlessly tracked Caracappa and Eppolito for more than seven years.

The Brotherhoods is the riveting account of the notorious rogue cops charged with murdering for the mob, and the brilliant detective who stalked them. With unparalleled access to both the NYPD and organized crime, a gallery of unforgettable characters, and sweeping from Manhattan to Las Vegas to Hollywood, this is the ultimate wiseguy story, packed with psychological intrigue, criminal audacity, and paranoid, blood-soaked fury.

Now with updates on the trial's shocking outcome and the ongoing legal battle.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, History, Audiobook, Biography

768 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Guy is the New York Times bestselling author of Arms and The Dudes: How Three Miami Beach Stoners Became the Most Unlikely Gun Runners in History. He is also the author of the Octopus: Sam Israel, the Secret Market, and Wall Street’s Wildest Con, and The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia.

For two decades Guy has traveled the world reporting on a wide range of subjects—conflict in the Balkans, the Mexican drug wars, ice hockey in northern Canada, life in a Bowery flophouse, fútbol in Brazil, Hezbollah suicide bombers, the Rwandan genocide war crime trials, and FBI-fabricated domestic terrorism cases, among others. His work has appeared in many international publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, GQ, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Australian, and the Globe and Mail.

Guy has four projects in development for film. Arms and the Dudes is currently being filmed by Warner Brothers, with Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street, 21 Jump Street) and Miles Teller (Whiplash, The Spectacular Now) starring and Todd Phillips (The Hangover I, II, II) directing. In April 2015, Guy’s Rolling Stone article The Dukes of Oxy was optioned by New Line/Warner Brothers, with Mike De Luca (The Social Network, Moneyball) attached to produce and Ansel Elgort (Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars) to star. In addition, Guy’s book Octopus is with HBO, to be written and directed by Peter Gould (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Too Big to Fail). The Brotherhoods is with Warner Brothers, to be produced by Dan Lin (The Lego Movie, Sherlock Holmes I, II, III).

Guy was born in Toronto and holds degrees from the University of Western Australia and the University of Cambridge. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews

[Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book! It's full of so much detailed information. The author did an outstanding job of compiling a massive amount of facts. Some parts got to be a little long and slow but I feel like that's to be expected with the amount of details and material this book contains. There's not a whole lot of "old time" mafia history in this book. It focuses more on events that occurred in the 80s thru early 2000s. It's definitely a must read for anyone that's as obsessed as I am with the history of gangsters/mafia/organized crime.

[Burt Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contrary to some other reviewers, I found the level of detail (e.g. backgrounds of individuals) just right; enough to understand their motivations, but not so much that you want to skip parts. I have to admit, I had low expectations when I started reading. I don't expect this genre to engender literary brilliance, but... really... there were few 'errors' (grammar, etc), I can only think of one that I noticed. I think the pacing of the story was just right, side-stories were introduced, then later explained & wrapped-up. The big flaw, so I docked it one star, is the book was (apparently) released too early, the story wasn't finished when the book ends. I mean, you have to look up the story elsewhere to see how it ended!

[Paul Gaya Ochieng Simeon Juma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody in power does anything good for the people.

A great book! The author's desire and dedication as a cop is admirable. However, through this book we get to learn some of the challenges of being a cop. One has to balance between his or her duties and personal gain. Especially where the pay is low as happens with many police institutions.

The only alternative for cops with modest wages is to engage in corrupt activities. Not very appetizing and dangerous, especially when you get caught as it happened in this case.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the tank for mafiosi like Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso and others, New York City detectives Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito sold their badges, their souls, and their reputations to the highest bidders in organized crime. From leaking information to contract hits, these guys did it all — and got away with it for far longer than they should have. Guy Lawson researched and wrote this book at considerable expense to his law-enforcement career and his own reputation. The result is a thoroughly absorbing read.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basics of the story were very interesting, but boy did this one need an editor. I'd say 100 pages of this one could have been cut out easily without losing much. Worth a read if you're into the subject matter, but you might end up doing some skimming.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book details the criminal exploits of a number of people, and not just the two cops who were assassins for the Mafia. I tried to take the time to examine much of what I read and there was much more in this book than just a true-crime story. First, there were lessons here. Most are ignored. The NYPD set itself up for this type of corruption by failing to practice operational security regarding information sharing. The need to know vs. the right to know is not well understood by most police executives, at least that is my opinion. In this case, if one person was working a case or a source, everyone on the department knew about it. Here we are in 2019 and police departments and government agencies fall all over themselves to be transparent. That is great for political talking points, but makes this type of corruption far too easy. When nothing can be compartmentalized, when everything has to be briefed up and released to the media, there is little danger to criminals from law enforcement.

The story here is complete. By this I mean it is a pretty in depth look at the Mafia in New York and other areas in the eighties and early nineties. It ends when the Judge, a pretty liberal justice Jack Weinstein, throws out the jury verdict. On the bright side, an appeal reinstated the guilty verdicts. Caracappa died in prison in 2017. Louis Eppolito died November 3rd, 2019 while serving his sentence in a prison in Arizona.

[Steven Kaminski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing that two cops could actually get away with working for the mafia for DECADES. This book gets into two police officers (one who was the head of a mob intelligence unit) named Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito who went on to feed information to the mob and eventually they picked up contracts for the mob. Murders. The fact that one of them put out a book named 'Mafia Cop' with a picture of the other one in the book the NYPD still couldn't figure out what was going on baffles me. The detail in this book is incredible because one of the authors actually hunted these guys down. But still. Almost unbelievable...

[Benjamin Brasford · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a really good read. Some will say that there are too many characters. Some will say that the book is too long. I say that it was all necessary. This 506 page book details the lives of two NYPD cops that worked as a second job for the Lucchese crime family. Some might ask why. I recommend that you read this book to find out. In the end, justice came as it did. It is long. It very involved. But it is a true story. Sometimes, those who swore to protect us, the public, decide to work for the very people that they are supposed to be protecting us from. This world has a little bit of everything in it.

[Brianna Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. It is very heavily detailed and spans several decades. There are numerous people, places and crimes introduced, but they all lead back to the story of the two officers. My only complaint is the final outcome is not in the book. A quick google search solves this but it was just a tad bit annoying. Other than that small irk, I loved the way the book was laid out and the backgrounds of the several characters involved. Overall, a great crime book!

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well researched and interesting read, the story of 2 NY police detectives who sold out and provided inside information and actually performed murders for hire for the a mafia.
The book follows the careers of the 2 dirty cops as well as the career of the police officer that would eventually bring them down.

[M- S__ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over-long, but extremely compelling stuff. I think it satisfied an itch I had to read one story about actually competent police work (even tho the case was literally other cops murdering ppl for the mob haha).

[C.L. Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very detailed look at the case made against Eppolito and Caracappa (NYPD cops) and their crimes for the mob. At times it seemed too detailed, but the details were useful when it came to understanding the trial. I learned a lot and found it intriguing.

[Tierra Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of characters that didn't always contribute to the story, in my opinion. They're actions were bad but there is also a lack of responsibility that intrigued me to read the other POV. I wouldn't believe it, but interested in seeing the....narcism?

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good interesting story, but it made me wonder if the author was paid by the word. I seriously feel that EVERY MINUTE DETAIL was included in this book. Again, a great story, but damn that was an unnecessarily long hike.

[Kenneth Grubba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful effort!!

EXCELLENT.Thank

EXCELLENT.Enjoyed every sentence. I like knowing what is happening in our society whether good or bad. This book is a winner

[Hotrats · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great subject, compelling story but where is the editor? This could easily be 100 pages shorter, redundancies removed. It needs a good edit.

[Martha E Esford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Very interesting and informative.
I just had a hard time keeping track of who was who. Really good book!

[John Metcalfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant insight into organised crime in New York! Much respect to the investigators who brought them both down!

[Maggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book gives a good insight into the mob - RICO - and how the mob turned on each other. I was not expecting the result and the crazy statue of limitations for serious crime in the US.

[James Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

[Linda Lou McCall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this is probably the best researched account of post-John Gotti Mafia history that I've ever read. Talk about learning "where all the bodies are buried"!!! That's the easy part. This book tells us about murders that no one even knew had occurred! Along with all manner of criminal acts - some of which I'd never even heard of. When I was attending law school at UC-Davis, in Criminal Law class we were given the acronym "MR (and) MRS LAMB" to help us remember the 9 felonies derived from English common law: Murder, Rape, Manslaughter, Robbery, Sodomy, Larceny, Arson, Mayhem, Burglary. But, to keep up with Mafia, the legal system would need to use the entire English alphabet from A to Z and throw in some Chinese and Arabic characters! The scope of acts perpetrated by a bunch of Italian, Irish and Jewish hoodlum is unbelievable. And this is during the DECLINE and subsequent fall of the hold that the Cosa Nostra has had on the United States since the beginning of the 20th century. Based on this massive account, it seemed like more crimes were committed AFTER the 5 Mafia families had ceased to have America in its murderous clutches. The sheer amount of crimes and the brutality involved can be a bit much, making this book too long and rather exhausting. However, if you like true crime, this is the book for you!

This book is supposed to about two NYPD detectives who are the most corrupt officers ever on the force! Or, at least, the worst that have been CAUGHT! However, the author went far and beyond the investigation, arrest, and trial of NYPD Detectives Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito. Maybe because one of the authors, former NYPD Organized Crime Det. William Oldham, spent years and years building a meticulous case in order to exact some kind of Justice for the families of the 8 victims murdered by men who had taken an oath "protect and serve".

That said, I have to let it be known that, in a very big way, this STORY - not the BOOK - really ticked me off. This book is less of an indictment against two corrupt cops than it is on the New York Police Department, City of New York, State of New York, FBI, DEA, ATF, Department of Justice, numerous Attorneys General, and several Presidents who allowed crime on such a massive and overt level to exist for DECADES without doing a damn thing! And I don't want to hear any excuses about cops being overworked and underpaid! Especially since it was the same NYPD (with the backing of the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program) that created, maintained, and shared with other jurisdictions a 500 page "Hip-Hop Dossier" on rap artists and executives like Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Cam'ron, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Lil Kim, Eve - AND EVERY ARTIST WHO EVER RELEASED A RAP RECORD! Eminem was included only because he hangs out with black people, making money on an art form that WE created. The file was so comprehensive that it included not only the names of hundreds of black artists but also their Social Security numbers, home addresses, car makes and models, drivers license numbers, auto tag numbers, spouses, children, parents, siblings, friends, friends of friends, where they ate, partied, shopped, and even the names and tag numbers of anyone who parked outside the house! For what? For being a black American multi-millionaire who RAPS and MAKE MUSIC? Yet the city let Italian-Americans RAPE, ROB and MAKE MURDER for decades! With the assistance of dirty cops whom the city paid a salary, decorated with awards, and then let them retire in Vegas with a pension of $70,000 a year! C'mon, America! This book exposed the sad fact that this country co-signed on hundreds of people - many of them law-abiding citizens - be savagely murdered by the Mafia in the 1980s and 90s, then we discover around 2005 that the NYPD has been using tax dollars for round-the-clock surveillance on Jay-Z, a black man on Forbes' list of the richest men in America - on the justification that since he raps about growing up around violence he is predisposed to shooting someone in the back of the head and leaving the body in the truck of the car with a canary in its mouth! "Racial profiling" isn't even close to the egregious level of harassment perpetrated by the NYPD! And former white NYPD cops still believe that this form of violating a person's Constitutional rights is justified for "those people", as we are referred to by them. When "them people" aren't good enough to carry Diddy's luggage!

Thank you, Det. Oldham, for exposing the NYPD for the racist hypocrites that they are. I respect you for writing this book in spite of your brothers in blue who tried to ostracize you and hush this thing up when all you wanted from your investigation was JUSTICE. A job well done! And I'm glad you were smart enough to get a book deal to tell this amazing story since New York and the government refused to send those killer cops to jail.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true story about to detectives that worked their way into the most elite unit only to give information to the crime family that they worked for. There were able to stop investigations, kill witnesses, destroy evidence and so much more. What you think is a screenplay or maybe a scrip for a T.V. show no, this is really taken straight out of court documents and other transcripts the F.B.I D.A. Justice department. Overall you get a look into there lives growing up, there careers on force the crimes they committed and the last one they did that brought them to their downfall. A good book sad but good. At times a lot of information but you can skip it if you so choose. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Matthew Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book because of the subject matter and that surely didn't disappoint. The story of two high level NYC cops who served as information sources/hit men for the mob during the late eighties and early nineties was just as compelling as I figured. The problem with this book was the length. Essentially, the first two thirds of the book was a chronological record of the events that took place along with the backgrounds of all the major players. Fine. But then we move on to the trial and those same events are described again, almost verbatim. Don't see how any editor worth his or her salt wouldn't see that and trim the book accordingly. Good read but at least a hundred pages could go easily.

[Lauren Stanek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book. I spent a great deal of time reading about the mafia in the Detroit and Chicago areas during the 20s, but hadn't read too much about the NYC mob families. The chronology and details were excellent. You can tell the book took a long time to research doing all the fact-checking. My only compliant was that about halfway through it started getting long and became difficult to trudge through. I also thought the chapter about the actual trial was short-changed. Overall, it was a very informative and interesting book. Definitely a must-read if you enjoy this genre and subject matter.

[Melissa Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book (which has been on my shelf for years, unread) because a friend and neighbor, a retired NY detective, was here for a party and pulled it off of my bookcase. He thumbed through it and said I'm in this. Turns out, one of the main characters was his partner. He never knew what his partner was into.
The book is interesting, but sometimes it tends to drag on with too much detail about the extended names and backgrounds of the mafia members. I guess much of it was needed to understand the complexities of what went on in NY back then, but it is sometimes a bit boring.

[Charlie Schnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting material and I enjoyed learning about the case. The writing is just so-so and it appeared that the author and Oldham had an axe to grind. Everyone trying to take credit for following up on the case and bringing them to justice. Very tangential and he tried to cover too much territory. When you are just getting in to a certain story line the book takes another line about another character in the story. Very difficult to follow.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the story was interesting and the plot held a lot of promise, the writing was too tedious for my taste. The book read like a textbook and was extremely hard to get through. Way too many minute details belabored the story. But if you are looking for a play by play of how the 5 mob families started and their hierarchies then this is the book for you.

[Gary Quien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of the two dirtiest cops in New York City's history, who committed crimes including murder for the local mafia. Very good descriptions of the interface of the mob and the law cultures in the New York metropolitan area, and the sociology of organized crime and of dedicated lawmen, both the police, the prosecutors and attorney.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Lou Eppolito and Steven Carcappa two NYPD cops who were on the payroll of the mob. This story is told from the viewpoint of William Oldham the Major Case squad cop who refused to let the case die even when it seemed as if the cops would never face justice. Very in depth profiles of the Mafia figures, cops prosecutors and victims. Good read.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a true story about two high ranking NY detectives that were doing contract kills for the mafia. Very well written and informative. This is the best inside look at the mafia and its inner workings I have ever read. It would make a great movie.