After Conviction 'Mafia cop' Insists: 'It Was a Perfect Frame'

Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

In his first interview since being convicted of racketeering conspiracy, so-called "Mafia cop" Louis Eppolito maintained his innocence, insisting that he was the victim of "a perfect frame."

"I was the most perfect scapegoat in history. Nobody was better than I was," Eppolito told the Daily News for Monday editions.

Days after being convicted alongside former NYPD partner Stephen Caracappa for doubling as hit men for the mob, Eppolito claimed he was targeted in part because he had been accused in 1984 of leaking secrets to the Mafia. He was later cleared of those initial charges. "It left a stigma that I was connected to the mob," he told the newspaper by telephone on Friday.

The former detective said he had thought about facing the family members of victims. "I'm going to have to stand there and have people look at me and say, 'You killed my father, you killed my son,"' Eppolito said. "I didn't kill anybody. ... What am I supposed to do? They'll say you don't have remorse."

Both men were convicted April 6 of participating in eight brutal killings while on the monthly payroll of a murderous Mafia underboss. They were also found guilty of kidnapping, witness tampering and bribery _ and of providing inside law enforcement information to the mob.

Neither man took the stand during the trial, though Eppolito told the Daily News that he "begged" his lawyers to let him take the stand.

The 57-year-old said his predicament could be blamed on his 1992 book, "Mafia Cop," which key witness Burton Kaplan said from the stand was "the reason for all our troubles."

"I've thought about it a million times," Eppolito admitted. "I would not have been arrested if I hadn't written the book."

"Still," he said, "there are no regrets. Not a one."