Court upholds convictions of 'Mafia Cops'

A unanimous panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the racketeering, money-laundering and drug convictions of Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, the so-called "Mafia Cops."

Former NYPD detectives Eppolito, 61, and Caracappa, 68, were accused of working for the Lucchese crime family and having a role in at least eight murders between 1986 and 1992. They were convicted in 2006 and sentenced to life in prison in 2009.

The Second Circuit previously dismissed claims from the two men that their crimes occurred outside the statute of limitations.

In Friday's 33-page decision, a three-judge panel unanimously rejected a series of other complaints, including objections to evidence that was admitted, the quality of their legal representation and comments by a prosecutor personally vouching for a witness' credibility during closing arguments.

The three-judge panel found all the claims to be "without merit."

Eppolito is imprisoned in Tucson, Ariz., and Caracappa is imprisoned in Victorville, Calif.