Meanwhile, the number of people with reported book and/or movie deals about the astounding corruption case may soon surpass the number of witnesses the feds will use to try and send them to prison for life.

Even Eppolito, whose 1992 autobiography “Mafia Cop” set in motion a very slow moving investigation that helped bring racketeering and murder charges down on him and Caracappa, is trying to sell his story to the big screen, with his wife serving as his go-between, sources tell Gang Land. 

Pulitzer Prize winning columnist-author Jimmy Breslin, who has already penned an article that includes a section about the case for an upcoming issue of Playboy, leads the pack, which includes a few participants in the case, some who may testify at the trial. 

Along with other wannabe chroniclers of the biggest scandal to tarnish the NYPD, Breslin eyeballed the sorry-looking ex-detectives as they pleaded not guilty to taking part in eight murders and numerous other crimes during the last 22 years. 

Among those in the crowded courtroom was the latest entrant in the crowded field of potential authors, William Oldham, an investigator for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf.

the two defendants since 1998, will co-author a book about the case that is due out next year.

That surprised Oldham’s colleagues. Gang Land saw two co-workers in an animated discussion reading a Daily News story about the book deal near their office in Downtown Brooklyn on Monday. It has also caused some concern among officials of the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The announcement must also have surprised Oldham, who did not respond to calls for comment. Bob Nardoza, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Mauskopf, told Gang Land that Oldham “has not signed a book deal, and he has not resigned.” 

In addition to Oldham, two other law enforcement officials involved in the case have reported book and movie deals, including retired NYPD Detective Thomas Dades and the chief of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Rackets Bureau, Michael Vecchione.

Sources said the FBI recently presented its findings to New Jersey U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, whose office has jurisdiction throughout the Garden State, including the state prison facility where the alleged extortion attempt took place.

As Gang Land reported last month, Gravano’s lawyers told the FBI, state prosecutors, and the judge in Sammy Bull’s upcoming trial for the 1980 murder of NYPD Detective Peter Calabro, that Kuklinski wrote an extortion demand note, showed it to the lawyers, and then bizarrely swallowed the evidence right in front of them during a meeting in Trenton State Prison.

and should be prosecuted for it.

“The big guy pressed so hard when he wrote his note that no high-tech CSI stuff was needed to bring up his words,” said one source.

While an extortion rap would have little impact on the 71-year-old Iceman, who is already serving four life terms, it could have a profound effect on his credibility as a trial witness against Gravano. 

In March, Superior Court Justice William Meehan instructed Bergen County prosecutor Wayne Mello to investigate the allegations and report his findings at a status conference scheduled for last Tuesday. A spokesperson for Judge Meehan told Gang Land that the conference was put off until next month.

A real life episode of "The Sopranos" played out in the Manhattan Supreme Courtroom of Justice Jeffrey Atlas at the trial of two mob-connected union officials, Michael Forde and Martin Deveraux, who were found guilty of enterprise corruption last year. 

It featured the son-in-law of the leader of the so-called real Sopranos, John Riggi, (right) boss of the Newark, New Jersey-based DeCavalcante family, as well as "Sopranos"-like goons in the spectator section trying to intimidate turncoat son-in-law Sean Richard and another prosecution witness.

Perhaps fueled by a Village Voice article by Tom Robbins that made its way into the jury room – he described Richard as a “strutting, puffed up wiseguy with an ego the size of South Orange” – some jurors even compared Richard to Tony Soprano during the trial, according to a decision last week by Judge Jeffrey Atlas. 

Other jurors said the trial "resembled a 'Sopranos' episode," wrote Atlas, who found that the un-juror-like actions of so many jurors even before deliberations began, coupled with a very weak case, warranted a new trial for both men. Prosecutors will appeal the ruling.