Back وايتي بولغر Arabic وايتى بولجر ARZ James Bulger BCL وایتی بەلگەر CKB James J. Bulger Danish James J. Bulger German Ουάιτι Μπούλγκερ Greek Whitey Bulger Spanish جیمز بالجر Persian James J. Bulger Finnish

Whitey Bulger

James Bulger
Bulger in 2011
Bulger in 2011
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive
Charges
Description
BornJames Joseph Bulger Jr.
(1929-09-03)September 3, 1929
Everett, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedOctober 30, 2018(2018-10-30) (aged 89)
Preston County, West Virginia, U.S.
Cause of deathBlunt force trauma
Siblings
Children1
Status
PenaltyTwo life sentences plus five years, forfeiture of $25.2 million, $19.8 million restitution
AddedAugust 19, 1999
CaughtJune 22, 2011[1]
Number458
Captured

James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (/ˈbʌldʒər/ ; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish Mob group in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Boston.[2][3] On December 23, 1994, Bulger fled the Boston area and went into hiding after his former FBI handler, John Connolly, tipped him off about a pending RICO indictment against him.[4][5] Bulger remained at large for sixteen years. After his 2011 arrest, federal prosecutors tried Bulger for nineteen murders based on grand jury testimony from Kevin Weeks and other former criminal associates.

Although Bulger adamantly denied it, the FBI stated that he had served as an informant for several years starting in 1975.[6] Bulger provided information about the inner workings of the Patriarca crime family, his Italian-American Mafia rivals based in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. In return, Connolly, as Bulger's FBI handler, ensured that the Winter Hill Gang was effectively ignored.[7][8][4] Beginning in 1997, press reports exposed various instances of criminal misconduct by federal, state, and local officials with ties to Bulger, causing embarrassment to several government agencies, especially to the FBI.[5][9][10][11][12]

Bulger became a fugitive in 1994. Five years later in 1999, he was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He was considered the most wanted person on the list behind Osama bin Laden.[13] Another 12 years went by before he was apprehended along with his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, outside an apartment complex in Santa Monica, California. By then he was 81 years old.[1][14][15][16] Bulger and Greig were then extradited to Boston and taken to court under heavy guard. In June 2012, Greig pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud, and conspiracy to commit identity fraud, receiving a sentence of eight years in prison. Bulger declined to seek bail and remained in custody.

Bulger's trial began in June 2013. He was tried on thirty-two counts of racketeering, money laundering, extortion and weapons charges, including complicity in nineteen murders.[17] On August 12, Bulger was found guilty on 31 counts, including both racketeering charges, and was found to have been involved in eleven murders.[18] On November 14, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus five years by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper.[19] Bulger was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida.[20]

Bulger was transferred to several facilities in October 2018; first to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma and then to the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton, near Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.[21] Bulger, who was in a wheelchair, was beaten to death by inmates on October 30, 2018, within hours of his arrival at Hazelton.[22][23][24] In 2022, Fotios Geas, Paul DeCologero and Sean McKinnon were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in Bulger's death.[25][26][27]

  1. ^ a b "Famed crime boss James 'Whitey' Bulger arrested in Santa Monica". Los Angeles Times. June 22, 2011.
  2. ^ Nagorney, Adam; Lovett, Ian (June 23, 2011). "Whitey Bulger Is Arrested in California". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Zezima, Katie (June 23, 2011). "In South Boston, Mixed Memories of Whitey Bulger". The New York Times.
  4. ^ a b Mahony, Edmund (December 23, 1999). "Former FBI agent indicted". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Helmore, Ed (June 2, 2002). "FBI's links to Irish crime lord exposed". The Observer. Archived from the original on June 12, 2002. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  6. ^ Boer, David (October 30, 2018). "Convicted Mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger, 89, Found Dead In Prison". WBUR. Retrieved June 22, 2021 – via NPR.
  7. ^ "FBI helped Bulger evade detection, ex-cop says". CBS News. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  8. ^ "Whitey Bulger arrest may revive old scandals". CBS News. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  9. ^ Rudolf, John (June 24, 2011). "Nabbed Gangster 'Whitey' Bulger Could Spill FBI Corruption Secrets". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014.
  10. ^ Sonmez, Felicia (June 25, 2011). "James 'Whitey' Bulger's capture could cause trouble inside the FBI". The Washington Post.
  11. ^ Lavoie, Denise; Crimaldi, Laura; Anderson, Curt (June 24, 2011). "Capture Of Boston Gangster Could Mean More Scandal". WBUR. AP. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "'Whitey' Bulger: Mob hitman suspected as prison killer". BBC. November 1, 2018.
  13. ^ Dockterman, Eliana (September 21, 2015). "The True Story Behind Black Mass". Time. Retrieved May 12, 2020. ... Whitey Bulger, who stood just behind Osama bin Laden on the FBI's most-wanted list for years...
  14. ^ Nagourney, Adam; Lovett, Ian (June 23, 2011). "Whitey Bulger Is Arrested in California". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Johnson, Kevin (June 23, 2011). "Mobster Whitey Bulger arrested in California". USA Today. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  16. ^ "One of America's Top Fugitives James 'Whitey' Bulger: Caught in Santa Monica". International Business Times. June 23, 2011. Archived from the original on June 26, 2011.
  17. ^ Shelley Murphy; Milton J. Valencia; Brian Ballou; John R. Ellement; Martin Finucane (June 12, 2013). "'Whitey' Bulger defense claims he was no informant, questions credibility of prosecution witnesses". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Globe Conviction was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ "Topic Galleries". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013.
  20. ^ "Whitey Bulger transferred to federal prison in Florida". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  21. ^ "Whitey Bulger moved from Florida prison to Oklahoma City transfer facility". WFXT. October 26, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  22. ^ Sanchez, Ray (October 30, 2018). "Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger killed in West Virginia prison a day after transfer". CNN. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  23. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (October 30, 2018). "Whitey Bulger Is Dead in Prison at 89; Long-Hunted Boston Mob Boss". The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  24. ^ "Prison drops visits after Whitey Bulger slaying". Boston Herald.
  25. ^ Durkin, Alanna (August 18, 2022). "Whitey Bulger Death: 3 Charged in Killing of Boston Mob Boss". NBC Boston. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  26. ^ "James 'Whitey' Bulger: Three men charged in mob boss murder". BBC News. August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  27. ^ Ayyub, Rami; Gorman, Steve (August 19, 2022). "Three men indicted in prison beating death of Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger". Reuters.

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