Opinion ID: 1212404
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kaplan Eventually Decides To Cooperate

Text: 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).)