Mafia Detectives Risks Mafia Cops Case

Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

Louis Eppolito may have written the book on being a "Mafia Cop" - but a soon-to-be released book could help write his ticket to freedom.

Michael Vecchione, chief of the Brooklyn district attorney's rackets bureau, has quietly signed a book contract touting "the full inside story of the investigation" into Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, the so-called Mafia cops. But there's one problem: Law enforcement and legal sources say Vecchione's book could jeopardize any state prosecution of Eppolito and Caracappa.

Right now, the case remains in federal court, as the feds are appealing Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein's decision to throw out racketeering convictions against the duo. If the feds lose the appeal, the ex-cops could be prosecuted in Brooklyn under state law.

Hofstra University law Prof. Monroe Freedman, an expert on legal ethics, said the American Bar Association's code of standards forbids prosecutors from entering into any media deal before a case is completely done. "It's really egregious judgment, because it's the kind of thing every prosecutor should know," Freedman said yesterday. "It clearly puts the prosecutor's personal interest in self-promotion and making money ahead of his obligations as a public official."

He added, "In my view, if this case is going to be prosecuted by the state, it would have to be by a different prosecutor's office or an independent prosecutor."

Vecchione's book, "Mafia Detectives," due out in January, promises to deliver "never-before-released documents and information" about the case, according to publisher Harper Collins' foreign rights guide.

A spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes refused to say when Vecchione inked the deal or how much he's getting paid. "It's a personal matter," said spokesman Jerry Schmetterer.

Vecchione is doing the book with retired Detective Tommy Dades, who broke the case as an investigator for Hynes' office and still works there.

Asked yesterday whether Hynes approved the book deal, Schmetterer replied, "Absolutely."

Thanks to John Marzulli