Opinion ID: 1212404
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Kaplan Becomes a Fugitive

Text: As indicated above, Casso, having been warned of his impending arrest through information received from Eppolito and Caracappa, had become a fugitive in 1990; he was caught and arrested in 1993. In March 1994, Kaplan's attorney called Kaplan at his home in Brooklyn to alert him that Casso had probably begun to cooperate with the government. Within hours, Kaplan himself became a fugitive; he promptly left New York, and the next day he flew to the west coast, en route to Mexico. Before leaving New York, however, Kaplan went to Caracappa's home to alert him: I was very embarrassed and I told Steve, I said we got a real problem and I told him Anthony Casso went bad and that I am going on the lam and that I'm coming up to tell him because I would expect that there is going to be a lot of publicity in the next couple of weeks, but I wanted him to know that I was going on the lam because he's not going to see me, that I didn't go bad, and that he could rely on me and he said to me, do you need any money. Do youdo you need me to take care of your wife? He was very gracious, and I said no, Steve. Thank you very much. I have money. And he says well, if you ever do need money in the future, just let me know, like a good friend would, and he said, I'll take care of your wife. And I said thank you very much. I said, but you know, there is someone else involved in this too. There's Louie. He's in Vegas already and I always felt Louie was a little flamboyant, and I said, can you control Louie? Can you take care of the situation with him? He said, Louie's been my partner and I trust him and don't worry about it. I said okay. (Tr. 768-69.) Kaplan surmised to Caracappa that the government would not reach a cooperation agreement with someone who had killed as many people as Casso had unless Casso were willing to give information that was sensational. Kaplan expressed concern that Casso's cooperation would therefore focus on Eppolito and Caracappa. Kaplan knew that, despite his refusal to give Casso the detectives' names, Casso believed he knew who they were: He had told Kaplan that he had seen the pictures of Eppolito and Caracappa in Eppolito's book, Mafia Cop, and had recognized them as two of the men in the Toys R Us parking lot who had assisted in the Hydell kidnaping. Kaplan's concern was, in general, prophetic. Following Casso's apparent decision to cooperate with the authorities, there was a heavy, heavy amount of publicity on the subject of police detectives accused of serious, serious crimes. (Tr. 924.) Eppolito later told Kaplan that the press, for a time, was awful and that Eppolito and Caracappa had retained attorneys. (Tr. 777.) After alerting Caracappa, Kaplan fled to Mexico, where he remained for several months. He then returned to the United States to reside under an assumed name in Portland, Oregon. At the end of 1994, Kaplan moved to Las Vegas, where he remained until the summer of 1996. He then returned to New York, where he was soon arrested on account of his marijuana trafficking business, see Part I.C. below.
After moving to Las Vegas in the early 1990s, Eppolito published his autobiography, Mafia Cop, in 1992. The book portrayed Eppolito as a man who had relatives in the Mafia, while he himself had rejected a life of crime and become a police detective. As indicated above, Eppolito included pictures of himself and Caracappa in the book, allowing Casso, who had never been told their names, to identify them.
Kaplan, after his sojourn in Mexico, took up residence in Portland but visited Las Vegas several times to see a lady friend. During such a visit in August or September 1994, Kaplan had his friend place a call from a public telephone to Eppolito, who was listed in the telephone book, and arrange for Eppolito to meet Kaplan the next day at a local supermarket. This would be the first of several meetings between the two at that location. Near the meeting time, Kaplan loitered around the slot machines in the market's vestibule until Eppolito arrived. The two then strolled around the supermarket, with Kaplan pushing a cart, discussing their respective situations and the publicity surrounding Casso's arrest and cooperation. Kaplan testified, [t]his was the first time I had seen him since the problem happened with Casso and I went on the lam, and I asked him what was going on, is he all right, is he under any pressure, is he getting any heat. (Tr. 777.) Eppolito responded that he had initially been bothered by the press, but that matters had improved. Eppolito also told Kaplan that Caracappa would be moving to Las Vegas and was building a house diagonally across the street from Eppolito's house. Caracappa eventually moved to Las Vegas in the latter half of 1996 and indeed lived across the street from Eppolito. From the fall of 1994 until he moved to Las Vegas permanently, Caracappa visited Las Vegas several times and met with Eppolito and Kaplan, Kaplan having moved to Las Vegas at the end of 1994. In November 1994, Kaplan offered to lend Eppolito money from Kaplan's narcotics trafficking business. Eppolito had inquired whether Kaplan could arrange for Eppolito to borrow $75,000 from a loanshark, explaining that he had made a down payment on the construction of one house, had found another house he preferred, and had been unable to persuade the builder to return his money before a new buyer was found for the first house; thus, Eppolito needed a bridge loan. Eppolito said he was willing to pay the loanshark interest of $750 a week. Kaplan, although a fugitive, had continued with his marijuana trafficking business, and he said that, rather than see Eppolito incur such an interest obligation, Kaplan would ask his marijuana supplier to agree to a delay in payment so that Kaplan could lend Eppolito the money. In early 1995, Kaplan had cash delivered to him from New York and gave Eppolito $65,000 in 13 envelopes containing $100 bills. In 1996, Eppolito repaid $55,000, giving Kaplan $30,000 or $35,000 in cash in an envelope that came from the bank and checks for the rest. (Tr. 802.) Kaplan forgave repayment of the remaining $10,000. In early 1996, Kaplan, knowing that Caracappa's wife sold a line of clothing through the QVC home-shopping television channel and was friendly with a woman who sold jewelry on QVC, sought Caracappa's help in attempting to get QVC to offer for sale a product in which a friend of Kaplan's had an interest. Caracappa mentioned that his wife's friend was going to serve as Caracappa's alibi for the killing of Eddie Lino by saying that she and her husband had dined with Caracappa and his wife that night. Caracappa arranged for Kaplan and Kaplan's friend to meet with a QVC executive. After moving to Las Vegas, Caracappa opened a business that provided security services. He employed Eppolito in that business. Eppolito, in the meantime, was attempting to write and sell movie screenplays. He had a film production company, of which he was president and Caracappa was vice president. Caracappa read everything that Eppolito wrote.
Stephen Corso, who testified at trial, was a New York accountant who had embezzled more than $5 million from his clients. Arrested without fanfare in 2002, he became a government cooperator, eventually posing as a Mafia associate. He moved to Las Vegas and began to frequent a restaurant that was a hangout for members of organized crime. There Corso met John Lombardozi, who described himself as an associate of the Gambino Crime Family; Lombardozi introduced Corso to John Mercaldi, who ran a prostitution business in Las Vegas and described himself as the right-hand man to Jerry Chili, the apparent successor to leadership of the Bonanno Crime Family. Corso subsequently had conversations with Chili, who told Corso to say he was with Jerry from the Fulton Fish Market (Tr. 1423). Mercaldi thereafter introduced Corso to others as `with us' and `very good friends with Jerry.' (Tr. 1425.) In the spring of 2003, Corso began wearing a wire to record his conversations with members of organized crime. Mercaldi introduced Corso to Gambino Crime Family member Michael Dibari; Mercaldi and Dibari introduced Corso to John Frate. John Frate's father, to whom Corso was also introduced, was Mike Frate, who identified himself as the right-hand man to Joe Bonanno, the then-head of the Bonanno Crime Family. In October 2004, Dibari asked Corso to meet with Eppolito.
Eppolito's name had not previously been mentioned by the authorities to Corso, who, by that time, had been wearing a wire for a year and a half. Dibari said he hoped Corso could help to raise money for the production of a movie written by Eppolito; Corso consulted FBI Special Agent Kevin Sheehan. Sheehan instructed Corso to tell Dibari that Corso had no interest in meeting Eppolito because Eppolito was a cop. A week or 10 days later, John Frate and Mike Frate arranged to meet with Corso. At that meeting, they handed him an envelope containing Eppolito's screenplay, called Murder at Youngstown. Corso told the Frates that he was hesitant to meet with Eppolito because Eppolito was a cop. Corso testified that in response, Mike Fr[ate] said that he understood my concern, but that Corso shouldn't worry because Lou was one of us.... (Tr. 1565.) Corso reported this meeting to Sheehan; a few days later, Sheehan gave approval for Corso to meet with Eppolito. Thereafter John Frate took Corso to meet Eppolito at Eppolito's home. Frate attended some of the ensuing meetings, as he wanted to be a part of the whole process of funding the movie. (Tr. 1445.) During the next few months, Corso met with Eppolito more than 20 times. As Corso continued to wear a wire, most of his conversations with Eppolitoand later with both Eppolito and Caracappawere recorded; at least one of the meetings with Eppolito was held in Corso's office, in which the FBI had installed recording equipment and hidden cameras. An early meeting of Corso, Eppolito, and John Frate to discuss funding for Murder at Youngstownfor which Eppolito said he needed $5 millionwas attended by one of Corso's clients who controlled a public company. The client suggested that his company could merge with Eppolito's film company and raise money through a public offering of stock. Eppolito was favorably disposed to that suggestion and said he would want some of his friends to receive stock in the offering; one of them was Caracappa. Corso was introduced to Caracappa at the end of January 2005. He attended several dinner meetings with Eppolito and Caracappa and noted that the relationship between Eppolito and Caracappa appeared to be very close. Corso testified that at one such meeting, Caracappa told Corso he trusted Corso, and that if he didn't trust [Corso, Corso] wouldn't be there and... wouldn't be meeting with Lou. (Tr. 1637.) Eppolito was also involved in other attempts to earn money. In addition to seeking $5 million to fund Murder at Youngstown, Eppolito told Corso he was willing to write a screenplay for or about anyone who would pay him $75,000; when Eppolito sold the screenplay, he would pay the investor 50 percent of all profits. When Corso asked if Eppolito cared what a potential investor did for a living or where the money came from, Eppolito responded, `[n]o, I don't give a fuck about nothing' (Tr. 1621); and, without Corso's having made any mention of narcotics trafficking ( see id. at 1621-22), Eppolito said that an investor could be the biggest drug dealer ... in the U.S. [, Eppolito] didn't care, so long as Eppolito did not have to transport the drugs ( id. at 1621; see also id. at 1622 (Eppolito said, `[s]eventy-five comes in a fucking shoebox [ i.e., in cash], that is fine with me, I don't care, I had people given [sic] me money before')). In December 2004, Corso, on instructions from Sheehan, told Eppolito that Corso had lined up an investor who would send $75,000 for Eppolito to write a script and to send the investor 50 percent of whatever profit resulted from its sale. Corso told Eppolito that the money was narcotics proceeds from Florida; Eppolito indicated that he did not care. Corso told Eppolito that the money might be coming from somebody in the Mafia (Tr. 1618); Eppolito indicated that he did not care. Eppolito said, `I got people from the Gambino family that call me all of the time. [They say, y]ou know, Louie, we got money, you know[;] I says it's not a question about your money, it's you don't have enough to make the movie.' (Tr. 1624.) Eppolito said Mike Frate had given him $25,000 in a cardboard box in cash for a partial investment in [a] $75,000 script. (Tr. 1617-18.) Eppolito also said he would have no objection if an investor in such a script did not use his real name in signing their contract. `He could sign it John Wayne'.... `I don't care what name he uses.' (Tr. 1627-28.) Corso also told Eppolito that in order to avoid the filing of currency transaction reports, federally required for wire transfers of $10,000 or more, the $75,000 would be wired in installments of less than $10,000. Eventually, wire transfers totaling $14,000 were made to Eppolito's account. Although Eppolito was initially unconcerned about the investment's fragmentation, he became irritated at the slow pace of its arrival, saying. `[a] re they in Florida. Why didn't he send a guy with a car [.] I would haveI would have flown there and drove back.' (Tr. 1640.)
Corso testified that at a dinner with Eppolito and Caracappa in mid-February 2005, he told them he was expecting a visit from four Hollywood clients, each of whom was interested in investing $75,000 in Eppolito!'s film project, and that his clients wanted to purchase `designer drugs' (Tr. 1587), specifically ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine. Corso testified that Eppolito responded that Tony, his son, could handle it; both Eppolito and Caracappa said that Guido Bravatti, a young associate of Caracappa's, could handle it. Later that night, Eppolito called Corso to give him Bravatti's telephone number. On the following evening, Corso had dinner with Tony and Bravatti. Corso told them that his clients wanted an ounce of crystal methamphetamine and six to eight ecstasy pills; Bravatti said there would be no problem. Tony and Bravatti indicated that they wanted to do all they could to facilitate investments by Corso's clients in Eppolito's film project. The next day, Tony and Bravatti made a partial delivery at Corso's office, saying that they had had some difficulty in obtaining what Corso requested. They handed him an envelope containing somewhat less than the requested ounce of crystal methamphetamine, and Corso paid them proportionately. The parties stipulated at trial that that envelope had contained 25.4 grams of 64-percent-pure methamphetamine. Tony and Bravatti never delivered to Corso ecstasy or any additional methamphetamine. On March 3, 2005, Corso had dinner with Eppolito, who was quite upset and told Corso not to call Tony or Bravatti any more. Eppolito refused to tell Corso why he was upset but became more congenial during the dinner. Corso did not again attempt to reach Tony or Bravatti. On March 9, 2005, Eppolito and Caracappa were arrested.
In the spring of 1996, one of Kaplan's New York attorneys had informed him that it no longer appeared that Casso would be a government witness. Kaplan returned to New York in the summer of 1996. In September 1996, he was arrested and charged with narcotics trafficking. He testified that the authorities appeared to be more interested in having him identify Eppolito and Caracappathough no names were mentionedthan in prosecuting him for his marijuana offenses: When I was arrested, I was taken into DEA headquarters and when I walked into the room, when they brought me in, they had about fifteen to twenty people in there and there was high ranking members of the New York Police Department, inspectors, and there was FBI agents, and DEA people.... The police department said, listen, you could help yourself out here real quick. We're interested in two dirty cops.... .... ... We are interested in two dirty cops and if you want to help yourself, you want toif you help us, then tell us what you know about two dirty cops. (Tr. 806-07.) Kaplan declined to make any statements. He was tried for and convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana; he was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Both during his trial and after he was convicted, law enforcement agents made repeated efforts to persuade Kaplan to cooperate. Kaplan continued his silence for some eight years. In the latter half of 2004, Kaplanthen 70-odd years of agedecided to cooperate with the government, including in the prosecution of Eppolito and Caracappa. At trial, he explained why: I was in jail nine straight years. I was on the lam two and a half years before it. In that period of time I seen an awful lot of guys that I thought were standup guys go bad, turn and become informants. .... And after nine years, I felt that [Eppolito and Caracappa] were going to be indicted by the state on this case, ... and I didn't think that they would stand up and I was tired of going to jail by myself, and I would be at the defense table now and Steve and Louie would be sitting up here. (Tr. 454; see also id. at 813 (I felt that one of them or both of them would make a deal and then I would be the defendant).)
As indicated above, Count One of the Indictment charged Eppolito and Caracappa with participating in a RICO conspiracy that began in May 1979 and ended in March 2005. Count Two charged Eppolito with money laundering in connection with his attempts in 2004-2005 to receive proceeds of narcotics trafficking; the two remaining counts charged Eppolito and Caracappa with distributing, possessing with intent to distribute, and conspiring with others to distribute five or more grams of methamphetamine. The racketeering acts alleged in Count One included the murders, attempted murders, kidnapings, and obstructions of justice between 1986 and 1991, described in Part I.A. above; Eppolito's conspiracy between 1994 and 1996 to engage in unlawful monetary transactions with respect to proceeds from Kaplan's narcotics trafficking business, described in Part I.B.I. above; Eppolito's attempted money laundering of narcotics proceeds in 2004-2005, described in Part I.B.2.a. above; and narcotics trafficking by Eppolito and Caracappa in 2005, described in Part I.B.2.b. above. Prior to trial, Eppolito and Caracappa moved pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(b) to dismiss the RICO conspiracy count on, inter alia, statute-of-limitations grounds. They argued that the Indictment failed to allege sufficiently that the supposed enterprise and pattern of racketeering activity continued past the termination of their employment with NYPD and/or their respective relocations to Las Vegas in the 1990s. As Eppolito and Caracappa were not indicted until March 9, 2005, they contended that no part of the alleged RICO conspiracy offense was committed within the five-year limitations period. The district court denied their motion on the ground that the issue could not be decided on the face of the Indictment but would depend on the evidence presented at trial. In its summation at trial, the government urged the jury to reject any suggestion by Eppolito or Caracappa that the RICO conspiracy ended when they retired from NYPD in the early 1990s, or when they moved to Las Vegas, or when Kaplan was arrested in 1996. The Assistant United States Attorney argued that the principal purpose [ ] of the enterprise was to make money, and defendants' ancillary purpose was to conceal[ ] their involvement in the conspiracy, in order to protect their ability to make money. (Tr. 2967.) He urged the jury not to be fooled into thinking that the conspiracy ended when the defendants retired from the force. The evidence shows, ladies and gentlemen, that Eddie Lino was killed after Detective Eppolito retired from the force. The attempt on Herman Tabak's life came after Eppolito retired from the force. The money laundering activity that Eppolito engaged in with Mr. Kaplan in Las Vegas occurred after [Eppolito and Caracappa] had retired and, of course, the activities in 2004 and 2005 with Corso occurred after they left the police force. (Tr. 2967-68.) Thus, the government argued that the RICO conspiracy had spanned the entire period alleged in the Indictment, as Eppolito and Caracappa received money for each crime in New York and they broke the law for money in Las Vegas. (Tr. 2967.) In instructing the jury with respect to defendants' contention that the statute of limitations barred their prosecution on the RICO conspiracy count, the district court stated as follows: The statute of limitations is designed to bar conviction on racketeering crimes that ended five years or more before the prosecution began by indictment. The indictment here was handed down on March 9, 2005. In order to convict the defendant of racketeering conspiracy, you must find first that the charged enterprise continued to exist as of March 9, 2000, five years before; that the single conspiracy charged in count one continued to exist as of March 9, 2000; and that the defendant continued to be a member of the conspiracy as of March 9, 2000. A racketeering conspiracy continues to exist until the purpose or objective of the conspiracy is either accomplished or abandoned. Here the indictment alleges that the principal purpose of the enterprise was to generate money for its members and associates by means of various legal and illegal activities. If you find that one or both of the defendants were at one time engaged in a racketeering conspiracy involving the charged enterprise but that the enterprise was no longer in existence as of March 9, 2000, you must acquit the defendants of the conspiracy charged in count one of the indictment. If you find that one or both of the defendants were engaged in a racketeering conspiracy but that the conspiracy was not ongoing as of March 9, 2000, you must acquit the defendants of the conspiracy charged in count one. If you find that the conspiracy was still ongoing as of March 9, 2000 but that the particular defendant was no longer a member of the conspiracy as of that date, you must acquit that defendant of the conspiracy charged in count one of the indictment. (Tr. 3268-70 (emphases added).) The court also pointed out that while both Eppolito and Caracappa denied that there was a conspiracy and that they were members of a conspiracy as charged, each of the defendants ha[s] raised a defense that even if the conspiracy charged existed, he was not a member as of March 9, 2000 because he withdrew from the conspiracy prior to that date. (Tr. 3270.) The court instructed that the burden of proof on the defense of withdrawal was on the defendant asserting the defense: Once a person joins a conspiracy of this type, that person remains a member until he withdraws from it. Any withdrawal must be complete and it must be done in good-faith. A person can withdraw from a conspiracy by taking some affirmative steps to terminate or abandon his participation in and efforts to promote the conspiracy. The defendant must have demonstrated some type of positive action which disavowed or defeated the purpose of the conspiracy. By way of an example, a defendant may withdraw from the conspiracy by giving a timely warning to the proper law enforcement officials; by wholly depriving his prior efforts of effectiveness in the commission of the crime; by putting himself [in] a position where he could not participate in the conspiracy; by making appropriate efforts to prevent the commission of a crime connected with the conspiracy; or by doing acts which are inconsistent with the objects of the conspiracy and making reasonable efforts to communicate those acts to his coconspirators. Now, on this issue of withdrawal, the defendant has the burden of proving whether he withdr[e]w from the conspiracy by a preponderance of the evidence. The burden is on him. (Tr. 3270-71.) The court cautioned, however, that [t]he fact that a defendant has raised this defense does not . . . relieve the government of its burden of proving that there was an agreement and that the defendant knowingly and voluntarily joined it and that it continued until at least March 9, 2000. Those are things the government must still prove beyond a reasonable doubt in order for you to convict the defendant of the crime of conspiracy. (Tr. 3272.) The court distributed to the jurors a verdict sheet that set out all of the issues the jury was to resolve. These included, as to each defendant and as to each specific racketeering act alleged against him, a question as to whether the government had proved that he agreed to participate in that act. With regard to the statute-of-limitations issue, a question was posed with respect to the continuation or ending of the alleged RICO conspiracy. After defense counsel objected to a question in the form, Do you find that the conspiracy charged in Count One continued to March 9th, 2000 (Tr. 3334), the jury was asked: Do you find that the conspiracy charged in Count One ended prior to March 9, 2000? The jury found Eppolito and Caracappa guilty on all of the counts in which they were charged. Finding them guilty of the RICO conspiracy charged in Count One of the Indictment, the jury found that each defendant had agreed to participate in each of the racketeering acts alleged against him. As to whether it f[ou]nd that the conspiracy charged in Count One ended prior to March 9, 2000, the jury answered No.
After the verdict, Eppolito and Caracappa made various motions to set aside the verdicts. To the extent pertinent to this appeal, Eppolito and Caracappa moved pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 29 for judgments of acquittal on the RICO conspiracy count, arguing that the evidence at trial was insufficient to establish that the charged enterprise continued to exist as late as March 9, 2000, or that the enterprise was conducted through a pattern of racketeering activity that continued to that date. In a Memorandum, Order and Judgment dated June 30, 2006, reported at 436 F.Supp.2d 532 ( Eppolito I ), the court granted that motion. Its reasoning was as follows: In the present case, the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants conspired to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. Moreover, although it was not required by the charges in the indictment, the government proved that the defendants. in fact engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity through their involvement in at least eight murders, two kidnapings, and various acts of bribery, tampering, retaliation, and obstruction of justice. The defendants, together with Frank Santoro, Jr. and Burton Kaplan, established a subcontracting arrangement with members of organized crime, represented primarily by co-conspirator Anthony Casso. Through this enterprise, the defendants exploited their positions as present or past officers of the New York City police department in order to supply confidential law enforcement information to Casso and to carry out murders and kidnapings under color of law. In exchange for their services, the defendants were highly compensated, receiving a retainer of 4,000 dollars a month for years and an additional 25,000 to 65,000 dollars per murder contract. It is unclear precisely when this conspiracy came to an end. It could be seen as having ended when defendant Caracappa retired from the police department in 1992, or when Casso, the defendants' primary client, was arrested in 1993. It may have lasted until Kaplan moved back to New York and was arrested in 1996. Up until that point, some remnant of the original enterprise arguably remained, and there was a possiblealthough minuscule threat of continued racketeering activity connected to that enterprise. But once Anthony Casso and Burton Kaplan had both been arrested, once the two defendants had both retired from the police force and re-established themselves on the opposite side of the country, the conspiracy that began in New York in the 1980s had come to a definite close. The defendants no longer had access to confidential law enforcement information and were no longer in contact with their old associates in the Lucchese crime family. Their enterprise had effectively been put out of business by their own retirements and their compatriots' arrests . . . . The government's inclusion of the four Nevada acts does not serve to lengthen the life of this conspiracy to within the five-year statute of limitations. The government maintains that the jury could have determined that these four acts were evidence of a continuing business venture on the part of the defendantsa sort of mom and pop general store of crimethrough which they sold members of organized crime whatever services they were in a position to provide from 1986 until their arrests in 2005. This theory was not supported by the evidence at trial. While the 1994-1996 monetary transaction involved two members of the earlier racketeering conspiracynamely, Burton Kaplan and defendant Eppolitothis act was essentially a personal loan from Kaplan to Eppolito, unconnected to the original enterprise or to any other enterprise with which the defendants had been associated. . . . The proceeds for this loan came from Kaplan's marijuana trafficking business, in which neither of the defendants had ever participated. Kaplan himself explicitly testified that, while the defendants had on occasion volunteered their law enforcement services in aid of this business, he had turned them down because it had nothing to do with the other crimes he was committing with them during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Eppolito's agreement to take marijuana proceeds from Kaplan was in no way a sale of his or Caracappa's services to Kaplan. Rather, it was a favor performed by Kaplan for Eppolito, tinged, as favors between criminals often are, by an acceptance of complicity on the part of the one receiving the favor. As for the 2004-2005 money laundering and narcotics charges, these crimes are also most accurately characterized as singular, sporadic acts of criminalityprecisely the sort of criminal activity not covered by the laws against racketeering. . . . Drawing every inference in favor of the government, . . . these acts could at best be seen as having been performed in furtherance of a new enterprise, unconnected to the original one and conducted through an entirely different type of activity . . . . After Eppolito retired from the New York City police department and moved to Las Vegas, he attempted a transition from the world of law enforcement to the world of entertainment. In pursuit of this goal, Eppolito established an ostensibly legitimate enterprise, DeAntone Productions, and began seeking investors in his screenplays, many of which were about the world of organized crime. According to documents admitted by the government, Eppolito was the president of this company and Caracappa a vice president. The final three racketeering acts were committed as a result of Eppolito's attempts to find investors for a particular film project: the money laundering grew out of Eppolito's agreement to accept funds from an investor described by government informant Steven Corso as a mob guy in Florida involved in a drug deal, and the narcotics charges arose from both defendants' arguable willingness to help Corso obtain drugs that would keep prospective investors happy. None of these acts displayed the sort of fee-for-services arrangement typified by the New York acts and alleged by the government to be the essence of the defendants' continuing enterprise. The government's attempts to rely on the nexus of organized crime to connect the New York and Nevada acts are unavailing, considering the significant differences between them. That Eppolito tangentially relied on his knowledge of, and prior association with, organized crime in his attempts to find investors for his new screenwriting endeavor is not surprising, nor is it in and of itself evidence that this enterprise was the same as the original one. A retired contractor who opens a delicatessen in his retirement may encourage his old employees and clients to buy their lunches at his new store, and time on job sites may have taught him what brand of pastrami those customers will prefer; that does not mean that he remains in the construction business. Eppolito I, 436 F.Supp.2d at 571-73 (at best emphasized in original) (other emphases ours). The court also rejected the government's alternative contention that prosecution of the RICO conspiracy count was timely because the members of the enterprise had agreed to maintain secrecy about the existence of the enterprise, their participation in it, and their prior crimes, and that that agreement continued until the date of their arrests. See id. at 573. Having concluded that judgments of acquittal should be entered in favor of each defendant on the RICO conspiracy count, the court also opined that, given the overwhelming evidence on that count that Eppolito and Caracappa were heinous criminals. . . guilty . . . of the most despicable crimes of violence and treachery, id. at 576, that evidence may have unfairly affected the jury's consideration of the other three counts of the Indictment. Accordingly, the court ruled that if its dismissal of the RICO conspiracy count were not overturned on appeal, Eppolito and Caracappa would be given a new trial on those other counts.