Louis Eppolito is the son of Ralph Eppolito and knew a number of members of the Cosa Nostra through his family. Louis Eppolito's paternal uncle and cousin, James Eppolito and James Eppolito Jr., were also both made Gambino members in Capo Nino Gaggi's crew. They were eventually murdered by both Nino Gaggi and Gambino family soldier, Roy DeMeo, with the permission of Gambino family boss, Paul Castellano. However, Eppolito claimed to have avoided the Mafia lifestyle and therefore became a New York City police detective, a job which garnered him a number of headlines. He was first a suspect in a corruption case where he was suspected of passing New York Police Department intelligence reports on to Rosario Gambino, a distant relative of Carlo Gambino and Paul Castellano, the former leaders of