nicholas scoppetta, the special prosecutor who helped convince leuci to go undercover against his fellow officers, said, "in the film, it seems to be the prosecutors who are disregarding the issue of where real justice lies and the prosecutors seem to be as bad or worse than the corrupt police." in fact, only two of the five prosecutors the film focuses on were portrayed negatively. in particular district attorney polito, played by james tolkan, is shown as petty and vindictive. the character is based on thomas puccio, the assistant united states attorney in charge of the federal organized crime strike force in brooklyn, and robert daley agrees that he was treated unfairly in the screenplay.