The District Attorney is considering reopening dozens of cases involving the eight Brooklyn cops who were busted last week for allegedly running an interstate smuggling racket, focusing on cases where the accused crooked cops had a direct role in investigations that went to trial.
Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for District Attorney Charles Hynes, said the number of cases that could be reopened — some of which could be nearly 20 years old — is unclear.
The accused officers — William Masso, Eddie Goris and John Mahoney of the 68th Precinct, Gary Ortiz of the 71st Precinct, Ali Oklu, of the Brooklyn South Task Force, and retired 68th Precinct cops Joseph Trischitta, Marco Venezia and Richard Melnik — are charged with illegally transporting $1 million worth of cigarettes, slot machines and guns, including M-16 rifles, handguns and a shotgun, to the city from New Jersey.
The investigation was launched in 2009 after an undercover informant began recording conversations with alleged ringleader Masso, an 18-year NYPD veteran.
Over the next two years, the gang of blue graduated from smokes and handbags to stolen slot machines, according to federal authorities, who made their bust during a Sept. 22 sting operation after setting the men up to buy a cache of firearms.
