Ex-Detectives Ordered Freed in Mafia Case

Two former New York police detectives accused of leading double lives as Mafia hit men were ordered released on $5-million bail each after a federal judge said the government’s case against them was weak.

U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein gave the prosecution 10 days to appeal before the men are freed. He said the statute of limitations may have run out on nearly all the charges against Louis Eppolito, 56, and Stephen Caracappa, 63, who are accused of participating in eight murders on behalf of organized crime in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Prosecutors argue that the statute of limitations does not apply because Eppolito and Caracappa participated in a racketeering conspiracy by continuing to associate with mobsters until their March arrests in Las Vegas.