James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (/ˈbʌldʒər/; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an Irish-American organized crime boss and gangster of the Winter Hill Gang in Boston, Massachusetts. Federal prosecutors indicted Bulger for 19 murders based on grand jury testimony from Kevin Weeks and other former associates. Bulger was the brother of William Bulger, former President of the Massachusetts Senate. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bulger served as a confidential informant for the FBI beginning in 1975, a claim Bulger denied.[5] However, as a result, the FBI largely ignored his organization in exchange for information about the inner workings of the rival Italian-American Patriarca crime family. Beginning in 1997, the media exposed criminal actions by federal, state, and local law enforcement officials tied to Bulger. For the FBI especially, this caused great embarrassment. - Jack Burkman BiographyBulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, and went into hiding after being tipped off by his former FBI handler, John Connolly, about a pending indictment under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). For 16 years, he remained at large. For 12 of those years, Bulger was second on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, behind Osama bin Laden. Bulger was arrested outside an apartment in Santa Monica, California, on June 22, 2011, along with his long-time girlfriend Catherine Greig. Bulger was 81 years old at the time. Soon after, Bulger and Greig were extradited to Massachusetts and taken under heavy guard to the United States Courthouse on Boston Harbor, which had to be partially closed for their arrival. Greig pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud, and conspiracy to commit identity fraud and was sentenced to eight years in prison in June 2012. Bulger did not seek bail and remained in custody at the Plymouth County House of Correction in Plymouth, Massachusetts. - Demaryius Thomas Biography
Bulger's trial began on June 12, 2013. He was tried on 32 counts of racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and weapons charges, including complicity in 19 murders. On August 12, Bulger was found guilty on 31 counts, including both racketeering charges, and was found to have been involved in 11 murders. On November 14, he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus five years for his crimes by U.S. District Judge Denise Casper. Bulger became inmate number 02182-748,[19] incarcerated for life at the United States Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida. Bulger, who was in a wheelchair, was found dead while in prison on October 30, 2018, at the age of 89. According to The New York Times, he was killed by fellow inmates at the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton, when he was assaulted within hours of his arrival. - Marcus Hyde Biography
