Record $10m payout for victim of corrupt Mafia police

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Record $10m payout for victim of corrupt Mafia police officer

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-wo ... -22311693/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A FORMER postal worker who spent 19 years in jail after being framed for murder by a "Mafia cop" has won a near $10million payout.

Barry Gibbs, 61, was convicted of killing a prostitute in 1986 and sentenced to 20 years.

But the key evidence in the case was gathered by New York police detective Louis Eppolito, who doubled as a hitman for the mob.

Eppolito and colleague Stephen Caracappa - the so-called "Mafia cops" - were caged for life in 2006 after being found guilty of eight murders, along with kidnapping and other crimes.

The court heard they moonlighted as hitmen in the 1980s and 1990s, settling scores against rivals of a Lucchese crime family.

Eppolito's main witness in Mr Gibbs's case later admitted being bribed by the bent officer.

And Mr Gibbs, who was freed in 2005, has now been awarded £6.7million in compensation by authorities in New York after suing for wrongful conviction.

The $9.9million settlement is a record for a civil rights lawsuit against the city. Mr Gibbs said: "I had my freedom taken away and now I have it back. I'll live each day like it's my last."

He added of Eppolito: "I hope he lives another 100 years. Every day in prison is like a day of death. I should know."

It's believed Eppolito bribed the "witness" into falsely claiming Mr Gibbs dumped the body of a strangled prostitute to deflect attention from mobsters - the actual killers.