Helping 'mafia cops' case gets accountant leniency

[February 04, 2009]  BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -- A Connecticut accountant who stole more than $5 million from clients was sentenced Tuesday to just one year in prison because he risked his life by informing against two former New York City detectives accused of mob killings.

Stephen Corso, formerly of Ridgefield, could have been given more than seven years in prison under sentencing guidelines. He is scheduled to surrender May 6 to serve his sentence of one year and one day.

Corso was a witness against detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, who were accused of participating in eight mob-related killings while working for the Luchese crime family. It was considered one of the worst cases of police corruption in New York history.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall criticized Corso's thefts as "an extraordinary violation of trust," but said she considered his cooperation in the New York case when she sentenced him.

"I can't find the words to describe the value, at least in my judgment, of this cooperation," Hall said.

A New York jury found the detectives guilty in 2006, but a judge dismissed their racketeering case after determining the statute of limitations had passed on the slayings. A federal appeals court reinstated the verdict last year.

Authorities who handled the case said Corso's role as an informant was critical to prove that the conspiracy occurred within the statute of limitations.

Prosecutors argued the murders were part of a conspiracy that lasted through a 2005 drug deal with Corso, who was an FBI informant.

Corso wore a wire while offering the detectives drug money to finance a film project at a 2004 meeting in Las Vegas. Eppolito, a decorated former detective and son of a mobster, was living in Las Vegas and trying to peddle screenplays.

Corso said he ripped off millions from clients to finance a life of "girlfriends, jewelry and going out."

Susan Patrick, whose family lost more than $800,000 to Corso, said he was a family friend before the thefts. Corso has been ordered to pay restitution to the Patricks and other victims.

"We will never be whole for our losses," she said Tuesday. "I don't believe Mr. Corso is at all sorry."

[Associated Press; By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN]

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