Mafia-linked prisoner escapes in Kentucky

Kentucky law enforcement agencies are searching for escaped prisoner Derek Capozzi, 37, of Beverly, MA, who leaped from a prison van on April 16, according to stories in the Boston Globe and the Lexington Kentucky Herald-Leader. Capozzi was being taken to the Blue Grass Airport for transport to an out-of-state prison. He was reportedly handcuffed and shackled and held inside the van with nine other prisoners by a door locked on the outside. Somehow, he managed to free his legs from the shackles and to kick open the door as the van took the Kentucky Route 33 exit off the Blue Grass Parkway.

Capozzi was sentenced in 2005 to 23 years in prison for helping to cut up and dispose of the body of 19-year-old mob murder victim Aislin Silva of Medford, MA. The young woman was killed by the Decologero Crew of the New England Mafia when it feared she would expose its drug and theft operations. Several other members of the gang were convicted of involvement in the Silva murder and its coverup. Gang member Kevin Meuse, who allegedly stranged Silva to death on Nov. 13, 1996, hanged himself in prison in 1997. Capozzi also was sentenced to 30 years upon conviction on attempted extortion and illegal firearms charges in 2003.