DNA said to implicate mobster in '77 death

NEW YORK, July 10 (UPI) -- FBI investigators said DNA evidence recovered from a hat led to the arrest of an alleged mobster for a 1977 slaying.

Investigators said the DNA of Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, 63, an alleged member of the Genovese crime family, matched hair strands found in the hat, which was found near the body of gunned-down mobster John "Johnny Coca Cola" Lardiere, the New York Post reported Friday.

Leslie McCurdy, a forensic scientist with the FBI, said the DNA test indicated the hat may have belonged to Coppola and ruled out 89 percent of Caucasian males in the United States.

The FBI first demanded a DNA sample from Coppola in 1996, but the alleged mobster chose to live on the run for 11 years instead of submit to the test. He was eventually caught after GPS technology tracked his cell phone from San Francisco to New York and an agent spotted him window browsing outside of a store in the city.

The investigators said Coppola was found to be in possession of fake drivers' licenses, credit cards and Social Security cards as well as a legal book called "The Methods of Attacking Scientific Evidence."