Police-Officer Hit Men for Mob Heading for Jail

A pair of retired New York City detectives who led double lives as mob hit men, helping commit at least 8 murders, had their convictions for racketeering conspiracy reinstated by a federal appeals court yesterday. A judge had initially reversed the convictions, despite "overwhelming evidence" of "the most despicable crimes of violence and treachery" because the 5-year statute of limitations had run out, reports the New York Times.

But appeals judges expanded parameters of the conspiracy to include more recent money laundering and drug distribution, arguing that all the crimes were part of a single enterprise that could still be prosecuted. For years, the highly decorated detectives, Louis J. Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, leaked law enforcement information to mobsters and carried out murders for thousands of dollars. They're expected to get life sentences. (More New York City Police Department stories.)