Three Men Will Soon Enter Pleas and Be Sentenced for the Murder of Boston Gangster James Whitey Bulger in Jail
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Three men are scheduled to appear in court on Monday for a plea hearing and sentencing in the 2018 murder in jail of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger.
Fed court in northern West Virginia will hold the hearing for Fotios “Freddy” Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon all at the same time.
The plea deals for the three were made public on May 13, almost six years after Bulger, 89, was killed in his cell hours after being moved to a troubled jail in West Virginia.
Geas and DeCologero are accused of hitting Bulger in the head over and over again, and McKinnon is said to have been watching.
Prosecutors say DeCologero told a fellow prisoner that Bulger was a “snitch” and that they were going to kill him as soon as he came into their unit. DeCologero also told another prisoner that he and Geas killed him with a belt that had a lock on it.
It was announced last year that Geas and DeCologero, who were charged with murder, would not be put to death. The three guys were all charged with planning to kill someone in the first degree, which is a crime punishable by life in prison. A second charge against McKinnon was lying to a government agent.
Bulger was in charge of the mostly Irish mob in Boston in the 1970s and 1980s. After he ran away from Boston in 1994, he became one of the most wanted criminals in the country. He was caught at age 81 after being on the run for more than 16 years. In 2013, he was found guilty of 11 murders and dozens of other gang-related crimes.
Source: AP