1. Men charged in Whitey Bulger’s prison killing
2. Plea deals for 3 men in Whitey Bulger case.
Accident – Death – Obituary News :
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a surprising turn of events, three men charged in the 2018 prison killing of infamous Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger have reportedly reached plea deals with prosecutors, as revealed in court documents filed on Monday.
The plea agreements for Fotios “Freddy” Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon have come to light almost six years after the 89-year-old gangster was brutally beaten to death in his cell at a troubled correctional facility in West Virginia.
Geas, a former Mafia hitman, and DeCologero, a Massachusetts gangster, were allegedly responsible for repeatedly assaulting Bulger in the head, while McKinnon reportedly acted as a lookout during the incident.
DeCologero purportedly informed an inmate witness that Bulger was a “snitch” and that they had planned to kill him as soon as he entered their unit. The same witness claimed that DeCologero and Geas used a belt with a lock attached to it to fatally bludgeon Bulger, according to prosecutors.
Although Geas and DeCologero were initially identified as suspects shortly after Bulger’s death, they remained uncharged for a significant period as the investigation unfolded.
Prosecutors in a federal court in West Virginia have requested hearings to be scheduled for the men to change their not-guilty pleas and proceed with sentencing. However, the specifics of the plea agreements have not been publicly disclosed.
Belinda Haynie, legal counsel for Geas, declined to provide a statement on the matter. Attorneys representing the other two defendants have yet to respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
(U.S. Marshals Service)
Last year, the Justice Department announced that it would not pursue the death penalty for Geas and DeCologero, who were charged with murder. All three men faced charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, a crime that carries a potential life sentence. McKinnon also faced additional charges of making false statements to a federal agent.
Bulger, who led the predominantly Irish mob in Boston during the 1970s and 1980s, operated as an FBI informant who provided information on his gang’s main rival. Following his escape from Boston in 1994 with the help of his FBI handler’s tip about an impending indictment, Bulger became one of the country’s most-wanted fugitives. After more than 16 years on the run, he was apprehended at the age of 81.
In 2013, Bulger was convicted of a series of 11 killings and numerous other criminal activities, many of which were committed while he purportedly collaborated with the FBI as an informant.
Bulger met his demise just hours after being transferred from a facility in Florida to USP Hazelton in West Virginia, where he was placed in the general population. The decision to transfer Bulger to Hazelton, a facility plagued by concerns about violence and understaffing, and to assign him to the general population instead of a more secure housing unit, was heavily criticized by experts in the aftermath of his murder.
A Justice Department inspector general investigation in 2022 concluded that Bulger’s killing resulted from a series of managerial lapses, widespread incompetence, and flawed policies within the Bureau of Prisons. While the report did not find any evidence of deliberate wrongdoing by bureau employees, it highlighted a chain of bureaucratic errors that left Bulger vulnerable to rival gang members behind bars.
DeCologero, associated with an organised crime group led by his uncle in Massachusetts, was convicted of purchasing heroin to assassinate a teenage girl who his uncle believed would betray their crew to law enforcement. When the heroin failed to kill her, another individual allegedly broke her neck, dismembered her body, and buried the remains in a wooded area, according to court records.
Geas, a close affiliate of the Mafia who served as an enforcer, did not hold an official “made” membership status due to his Greek heritage. In 2011, he and his brother were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in various violent crimes, including the 2003 murder of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, a boss in the Genovese crime family in Springfield, Massachusetts. Prosecutors contended that another mobster ordered Bruno’s execution because he was displeased that Bruno had cooperated with the FBI.
McKinnon, who had been on federal supervised release after serving a prison sentence for stealing firearms from a licensed dealer, was arrested on charges related to Bulger’s killing.
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Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia.
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– men charged in Whitey Bulger’s prison killing
– plea deals prosecutors say.
