Mitra Hormozi
PER
Mitra Hormozi Hormozi
In crisp opening arguments, a federal prosecutor, Mitra Hormozi, contended that Louis J. Eppolito, 57, and Stephen Caracappa, 64, lent the power of their badges to a murderous Luchese family gangster, who corrupted them with monthly payments of $4,000 and employed them as his spies and the executors of his wrath. She said that for years, the two defendants effectively armed one Mafia family, and one treacherous man within that family, with the power of the city of New York. That man was Anthony Casso, former underboss of the Luchese family, who later confessed to killing more than 30 men. Ms. Hormozi told the jury that Mr. Eppolito and Mr. Caracappa had found their way onto Mr. Casso's payroll through a go-between named Burton Kaplan, a wholesale clothier turned drug dealer, who had met Mr. Eppolito's cousin Frank Santora Jr. in jail.