Mafia Cops | The Thin Blue Line | 1

0:00American scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research.

0:20It's a few hours before dawn on a winter's night in 1959 in rural Connecticut. 25-year-old Burton Kaplan drives along a desolate country road. Snowflakes drift through the beam of his headlights. He hasn't seen another car for miles, which is just as well because there's a dead body in his trunk. Kaplan doesn't know who the man is or why he was killed. All he knows is that he has to get rid of him. Kaplan has a gambling problem. He borrowed large sums of money from an ex-cop back in Brooklyn. And now that ex-cop expects a favor. Kaplan has been told to take the body to someone who might help him bury it.

0:58He's agreed, of course, otherwise he knows he might be the one in the trunk next time. Kaplan checks his directions, then turns off the main road onto a dirt track. Through the trees ahead, he can see a pair of headlights.

1:15As he gets closer, Kaplan spots a man leaning against a car, watching him approach. He's dressed in a thick sheepskin coat and leather gloves, and is carrying a shovel. As Kaplan parks his car and gets out, the man walks over. Well, he's in the back. Kaplan pops the trunk. The body is wrapped in gray plastic sheeting and tied up with duct tape. The man gives a grunt to satisfaction. All right, this way. He motions for Kaplan to follow him. The snow is so deep here that it spills over the top of Kaplan's boots. Thankfully, the man doesn't go far before he stops and hands Kaplan the shovel. All right, this'll do.

1:57You want me to? Yeah, dig. Right, of course. The man lights a cigarette and watches as Kaplan gets to work. Kaplan quickly clears the snow, but when he tries to dig into the dirt below, he finds that the earth is frozen solid. Kaplan puts his foot on the shovel and presses down with all his weight, but the blade barely scratches the surface. Only a thin layer of icy soil comes loose. Kaplan turns to the man. It's no use. It's rock hard. The man flicks away his cigarette with his scowl. Give it to me. The man takes the shovel, but he doesn't make any more progress than Kaplan. He quickly tosses the shovel aside in frustration.

2:38Kaplan chews his lip. It's going to be dawn soon. I need to get back. You think this is my problem? I didn't mean that. Because if I'm not mistaken, that body's still in the trunk of your car. What are we going to do then? The man lights another cigarette and then looks at Kaplan. You're going to drive to Long Island Sound. I'll follow in my car. We'll find a spot by the water that's nice and quiet, and we'll dump the body there. Kaplan hesitates. He thought he was done carting around a body. The man frowns. You got a problem with that? Do I need to tell our friend that you've not been cooperative?

3:12No, no, it's not a problem. Long Island Sound it is. Now let's get going. Sun's coming up. Bert and Kaplan trudges back to his car. As he starts the engine and backs up, he feels the weight and the trunk shift again. He can't understand how his life has come to this. It started with just a few bets, and now he's an accessory to murder. But as he drives back down the dirt track toward the road, Kaplan makes a vow to himself. When this is all over, he's going to quit gambling. He'll work off his debts, and he'll never do a deal with a dirty cop again.

3:51With the Spark Cash Plus card from Capital One, you earn unlimited 2 % cash back on every purchase. And you get big purchasing power, so your business can spend more and earn more. Stephen, Brandon, and Bruno, the business owners of SandCloud, reinvested their 2 % cash back to help build the company's retail presence. Capital One. What's in your wallet? Find out more at CapitalOne.com slash Spark Cash Plus. terms apply. Here it is. This corner kick could be a big one. There's the cross. He rises to meet it. And it's a car. Soccer's biggest tournament is here. And Enterprise is turning every corner kick goal into your chance to win a car.

4:36The moment a corner kick is called, post on X with hashtag on every corner, hashtag sweepstakes and tag Enterprise. If it's a corner kick goal, you could win. Winners may pick up their cars at an enterprise or an enterprise car sales location on a corner near them. With over a thousand corner kicks expected, that's a lot of chances to win. For more details and an additional chance to win, visit oneverycorner.com. No purchase necessary for legal residents of the 50 U.S. states in D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain who are 21 and older. Sweepstakes end July 19, 2026.

5:11Void where prohibited. Prize awarded if a corner kick goal is scored. For entry details and official rules, visit oneverycorner.com.

5:25From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American Scandal.

5:49For most of the 20th century, organized crime in New York was dominated by the so-called Five Families. These criminal gangs divided the city into different territories, which they ruled through violence, coercion, and bribery. From bootlegging alcohol during Prohibition to loan sharking, prostitution, and illegal gambling, the Mafia's activities earned them plenty of attention from the authorities. but they had their ways around the law. They bought off judges, intimidated juries, and sometimes they corrupted the police themselves. Cops made perfect recruits for the mob. To most people, New York's boys in blue were beyond reproach, and when one of them was accused of a crime, they often closed ranks to protect each other.

6:32But while the public and their peers shielded the police from criticism for the right price, corrupt officers could make inconvenient investigations vanish, tip criminals off to surveillance, and even act as private executioners. Two cops in particular proved more valuable to the New York Mafia than any others. In the 1980s, partners in crime Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracapa betrayed their oaths of public service to make hundreds of thousands of dollars working with the mob. But not all law enforcement was as corrupt or as willing to look the other way. The dogged investigation of a few determined officers would eventually unmask these mafia cops and expose two of the most decorated officers in NYPD history as little more than hit men for the mob.

7:19This is Episode 1, The Thin Blue Line.

7:26It's the summer of 1969 at the New York Police Academy in Manhattan. Arthur Hearns opens the door to a small, windowless interview room. He puts his papers down on the metal desk and sits on one of the hard wooden chairs on either side and waits. He's not questioning suspects today. He's talking to trainee cops as part of their background and character checks. Hearns is an investigator with the NYPD's Personnel Screening Unit, and it's a big job. Crime in the United States is on the rise, and the federal government has increased funding for police departments across the country. As a result, the NYPD class of 1969 is the largest in its history.

8:06Hearns looks over his notes. His next appointment is with 26-year-old Stephen Caracapa. But from what he reads, Hearns can already tell that he's not going to like Caracapa. Nine years ago, at the age of 17, Caracapa was arrested for burglarizing a warehouse on Staten Island. He stole more than$1 ,000 worth of construction materials and tried to sell them on the black market. Caracapa was caught and sentenced to probation. So Hearns frowns. He knows teenagers do stupid things, but this was no high school prank. The warehouse burglary looked like a professional job. Caracapa either knew what he was doing or was working with someone who did.

8:46Either way, it doesn't speak highly of his character. There's a knock on the door and Hearns puts down the file. Caracapa steps inside. He's slender, almost gaunt, with thick dark hair and an intense gaze. Hearns shakes his hand and tells the young man to sit down. Caracapa scrapes back the other chair and takes a seat. He's a few years older than some of the other recruits, and he tells Hearns that he spent three years in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Since he was discharged, he's been living at home with his parents on Staten Island. Hearns has to ask Caracapa about the burglary, and the young man shifts in his seat.

9:23His answers are evasive, and he doesn't strike Hearns as especially remorseful about his criminal past. So by the time the interview is over, Arthur Hearns is convinced that Caracapa is not a man who should be in uniform. But his recommendation that Caracapa be dismissed from the police academy is later overruled by a supervising officer. Hearns doesn't ever learn why. Maybe Caracapa knows someone further up the food chain who put in the good word. Or perhaps the city is just so desperate for new officers that even former criminals are acceptable. Either way, Stephen Caracappa is allowed to continue in the force.

9:59And it's while he's enrolled at the police academy that Caracappa meets another trainee cop named Louis Eppolito. They bond over their shared Italian background, but the two young men otherwise couldn't be more different. While the slender Caracappa is quiet and smart, the heavyset Eppolito is loud and brash. He's into bodybuilding and talks openly about his extensive family connections to the mob. Eppolito's uncle and father were well-known gangsters. That isn't so unusual in the NYPD. A lot of recruits come from the same working-class neighborhoods the mafia operates in. But it's unusual for cops to brag about their ties to mobsters the way Eppolito does.

10:40And despite strict rules against associating with criminals, he keeps talking to known local gangsters. Eppolito's pedigree raises a few eyebrows on the force, but time and time again, the NYPD chooses to look the other way. So Eppolito's career in law enforcement goes on, and in the late 1970s, he's assigned to the Brooklyn Robbery Squad. He's joined there by his old academy friend, Stephen Caracapa. Soon, though, it's not just police work that keeps the pair occupied. One man complains that Eppolito and Caracapa handcuffed him and stole$300 from his wallet. Eppolito is accused of stealing jewelry from the scene of a crime.

11:20Caracapa is accused of dealing drugs. But none of the claims is upheld. It's usually Eppolito or Caracapa's word against the civilians, and the NYPD is generally inclined to believe its own over the public. And without hard evidence or corroborating witnesses, the complaints against the two men are all dismissed, and Eppolito and Caracapa are left free to continue where they left off. And in the late 1970s, Caracapa moves to the narcotic squad. He's part of a covert task force infiltrating a network of drug traffickers who are flooding New York with cocaine. But going undercover means sampling the merchandise or risk-raising suspicions, and Caracapa soon develops a drug problem.

12:01His addiction steadily gets worse, and he even suffers a near-fatal overdose after the sudden death of his baby daughter. But despite all his troubles, he still has a reputation as a smart and confident officer. So out of sympathy, he's taken off narcotics and offered a place on the Major Case Squad. It's one of the most sought-after jobs in the NYPD. The Major Case Squad has the power to take over any active homicide investigation in the city. And this means Caracopa can now access confidential intelligence on just about any case he wants. And that's information he and Luis Eppolito know certain people will pay handsomely for.

12:39But they need to get the right intermediary. Eppolito turns to his cousin, Frank Santora Jr., who has some connections to the mafia. He tells the two detectives that he knows someone from his time in prison who might be able to help. His name is Burton Kaplan. Since he threw the dead body into Long Island Sound back in 1969, Kaplan has managed to quit gambling. But he hasn't been able to stay on the straight and narrow. He recently finished a two-year stint in Allenwood Federal Penitentiary after being convicted for manufacturing quaaludes. That's where he met Santora. They were dorm mates. After Kaplan's release in 1983, he opened a clothing store and promised his family he'd finally learn from his mistakes.

13:21But then Kaplan started selling imitation designer clothes, and his shady business dealings brought him into contact with senior figures in the New York Mafia. So Eppolito and Caracapa think Kaplan sounds perfect. Santora sets up a meeting at his home in Brooklyn, and Kaplan is already there when Eppolito shows up. And in Eppolito's eyes, Kaplan doesn't look much like a wise guy. He's about 50 and has thick square glasses and a receding hairline. But if Santora vouches for him, that's good enough for Eppolito. Once the men exchange greetings, Eppolito takes off his jacket. His gold chains rattling around his neck, He shows Kaplan and Santora a rip in the underarm of his shirt.

14:03He tore the seam while roughing a guy up, and he says things like that happen a lot. Thanks to his build, either his jacket is too tight or his pants are too loose, and sadly, police salaries just don't stretch to custom tailoring. Kaplan takes the hint. He tells Eppolito that he happens to own a clothing store. Eppolito should stop by sometime and get fitted properly for a new suit, free of charge, of course. Eppolito grins. It looks like he and Kaplan are going to get along. And it's true it's hard to get rich while being a cop. The saying goes that crime pays, but police work doesn't. And a lot of NYPD officers work overtime to supplement their income or take second or even third jobs to make ends meet.

14:46But there are plenty of ways for less scrupulous cops to make money as well. It's an open secret in the department that many officers take bribes. Others steal drugs from evidence lockers and sell them back on the streets they seize them from. But what Eppolito and Caracapa are dealing is far rarer than drugs and potentially even more valuable. But their trade in information isn't without risks, and sometimes they can't help but leave a trail. Just before dawn on March 16, 1984, the FBI launches a raid on a property in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. It's the opulent home of Rosario Gambino of the Gambino crime family.

15:24The FBI has been building a case against him for months, and now that they have solid proof of him trying to sell 40 kilos of heroin, it's time to bring him in.

15:36An FBI agent hammers on the door. Open up, FBI! The house is silent, though, and no one comes to the door. The agent turns and gives a signal to the arrest team. Two plainclothes officers wearing body armor step forward with a battering ram. The wood splinters around the lock. The arrest team then kicks the door down and storms into the hallway beyond. The agent hangs back and waits for the all clear. Farther down the street, beyond the FBI perimeter, lights are coming on in neighboring houses, and it won't be long before there'll be people on their doorsteps wondering what's going on. Hopefully, the FBI will be finished by then.

16:15And after a few more moments, the agent's partner appears in the doorway. All right, we got him. They're cuffing him now. House is clear. The agent hurries inside. He doesn't bother to wipe his shoes and trails mud across the gleaming floor, and his partner grins. Oh, you're ruining Rosario's nice shiny floors. You want to talk to him? He's in the kitchen. No, he won't have anything to say to us. Let's take a look around. The agent heads to the stairs, which sweep around a gleaming chandelier. His partner gives a low whistle. How much do you think that set him back? More than we make in a year.

16:49Ever think we're in the wrong business? The agent heads toward the master bedroom. The room is huge with deep-piled carpet and a television mounted on the wall. The FBI agent looks around. All right, check the closet. I'll take the bathroom. The agent opens cabinets and starts searching through the various medicines and ointments. He's just peering at a prescription label on a bottle of pills when his colleague calls from the next room. Hey, you're going to want to take a look at this. The agent replaces the pills and heads back to the bedroom. Yeah, what you got? Well, I found a stack of$100 bills and this.

17:25It's a pile of photocopied documents, and there's a crest stamped on top that the agent recognizes immediately. These are NYPD files. Yeah, he's got surveillance reports here, suspect lists, internal briefing materials. Oh, jeez. I know. How did Gambino get his hands on this? The 36 documents found in Rosario Gambino's bedroom contained detailed intelligence about ongoing police investigations. It's information that should only be available to law enforcement. But somehow, it had made its way into the bedroom of a mafia boss. To the FBI agents, it's immediately clear what's going on. These files weren't stolen or misplaced.

18:07Someone leaked this information to Gambino. And that means the NYPD has a rat.

18:16As Americans, we're constantly grappling with the fundamental question. Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we strive to create the world as it should be? Our answers tend to ebb and flow through the decades. But once, just after a war that nearly tore us apart, we came as close as we've come to answering it. And it's a story worth a closer look. I'm Michelle Obama, and I'm proud to announce Higher Ground's new podcast, Reconstruction, The Unfinished Promise. Guided by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell and featuring my husband, Barack Obama, this limited series uncovers the untold stories of reconstruction, what they mean for us today, and how our past can shape the future we choose to build.

19:06Reconstruction, The Unfinished Promise, is available now on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts.

19:36Tell them about the guest stars, like Richard Kind, Carrie Coon, Jimmy Fallon, at all. But they were in it, and if you don't listen to them, then I will cut off your tongue, then cut off your head, and then put the tongue in the head hole. Aw, you tried. Listen now exclusively on Audible and Donald the Audible app today, or off with your head! I'm kidding.

20:14The discovery of confidential police files at the home of a mafia boss demands an immediate investigation. The FBI sends the photocopies to be tested for fingerprints, and they soon find a match to a 36-year-old New York police detective named Louis Eppolito. He seems a likely suspect. He has known family connections to organized crime and a long list of complaints against him as an officer. He even looks like a Brooklyn mobster, with slick back hair and gaudy rings on his fingers. So the FBI takes its evidence to NYPD's Internal Affairs, the department responsible for investigating misconduct by NYPD officers.

20:53And when the team at Internal Affairs looks into the matter, they find more evidence against Louis Eppolito. They established that the photocopies were made on the machine at the 62nd Precinct, the station where Eppolito works. And they discovered that in December 1983, Eppolito traveled to the intelligence division in downtown Brooklyn without his superior's permission. And while he was there, he requested access to Rosario Gambino's files, even though he wasn't working a case involving Gambino at the time. So the internal affairs team decides to bring Eppolito in for questioning. But when confronted with what appears to be strong evidence, Eppolito swears he's innocent.

21:32He claims that he saw a wanted poster for Rosario Gambino on the wall and told a detective in the intelligence division that he'd seen Gambino in Brooklyn the week before. The detective then gave Eppolito the Gambino files to take back to the 62nd Precinct. Eppolito insists that he didn't make the photocopies, but he can't account for how they ended up with his fingerprints on them 40 miles away in Rosario Gambino's bedroom. Remarkably, it's decided by prosecutors that there isn't enough evidence to charge Eppolito with a crime. But the team at Internal Affairs still doesn't buy his version of events, and he's suspended without pay while his conduct is investigated further.

22:10So on April 4th, 1985, Louis Eppolito was called before the deputy commissioner for a disciplinary hearing. The commissioner's job is to ensure departmental integrity and uphold ethical standards within the NYPD. But he has limited powers, and as the hearing gets underway, he quickly becomes frustrated with the hand he's been dealt. Contrary to usual procedure, the department's lawyers decline to call any witnesses or even cross-examine the defendant. So the deputy commissioner has to decide the case based on one fact alone, that Eppolito's fingerprints were found on the leaked files. It seems absurd to the deputy commissioner.

22:48It's like the department is trying to undermine its own case, but he can't do anything about it. So he sighs and asks Eppolito if he would like to say anything in his defense before a decision is made. Eppolito gets to his feet. He tells the room that he's been unfairly signaled out because his family has ties to the mafia. That's not something he can change, but he says he shouldn't be judged for the mistakes of others. He insists that he's true blue. He's been a cop for over 15 years and claims he's the 11th most decorated officer in the history of the force. Eppolito concludes his speech by telling the room that I've never had anybody accuse me of something.