– Whitey Bulger prison killing plea deals
– 3 men charged in 2018 Whitey Bulger murder.
Accident – Death – Obituary News :
Three individuals charged in the 2018 prison murder of infamous Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger have reached plea agreements with prosecutors, as revealed in court documents filed on Monday.
The plea deals involve Fotios “Freddy” Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon, who were implicated in the brutal beating that led to Bulger’s death at a troubled correctional facility in West Virginia nearly six years ago.
Geas, a former Mafia hitman, and DeCologero, a Massachusetts-based gangster, allegedly struck Bulger in the head multiple times, while McKinnon acted as a lookout during the attack.
According to prosecutors, DeCologero referred to Bulger as a “snitch” and conspired to kill him as soon as he entered their unit. He purportedly disclosed to another inmate that he and Geas used a belt with a lock attached to it to bludgeon Bulger to death.
Although Geas and DeCologero were identified as suspects shortly after the incident, they remained uncharged for several years during the prolonged investigation.
Prosecutors have requested hearings in West Virginia federal court for the men to change their pleas from not guilty to guilty and proceed to sentencing. However, the exact terms of the plea agreements have not been disclosed in court.
Belinda Haynie, representing Geas, declined to comment on the matter, while attorneys for the other two defendants did not immediately respond to requests for statements from The Associated Press.
Justice Department’s Decision on Death Penalty
Last year, the Justice Department announced that it would not pursue the death penalty for Geas and DeCologero, who were both charged with murder. All three individuals faced charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, carrying a potential life sentence. McKinnon also faced an additional charge of making false statements to a federal agent.
Bulger, who led the predominantly Irish mob in Boston during the 1970s and 1980s, collaborated with the FBI as an informant, betraying his gang’s main rival. Following his flight from Boston in 1994, after being tipped off about an impending indictment by his FBI handler, he became one of the most-wanted fugitives in the nation until his arrest at the age of 81, over 16 years later.
Background on Whitey Bulger and Convictions
In 2013, Bulger was convicted of a series of 11 murders and numerous other criminal activities, many of which he allegedly committed while acting as an FBI informant.
His life came to a violent end shortly after being transferred from a Florida prison to USP Hazelton in West Virginia, where he was placed in the general population. The decision to transfer him to Hazelton, despite prior warnings about violence and staffing issues at the facility, and the choice to house him in the general population instead of protective housing, received significant criticism following his death.
An investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general in 2022 attributed Bulger’s killing to a cascade of management failures, widespread incompetence, and flawed policies within the Bureau of Prisons. While no evidence of malicious intent by bureau employees was found, a sequence of bureaucratic missteps left Bulger vulnerable to violent retribution from rival gang members behind bars.
Individual Profiles of the Defendants
DeCologero, associated with an organised crime syndicate led by his uncle in Massachusetts, was convicted of purchasing heroin intended to kill a teenage girl targeted by his uncle. When the heroin failed to be lethal, another individual reportedly broke her neck, dismembered her, and buried her remains in a wooded area.
Geas, a close affiliate of the Mafia who operated as an enforcer, received a life sentence in 2011 alongside his brother for their involvement in various violent crimes, including the 2003 assassination of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, a high-ranking member of the Genovese crime family in Springfield, Massachusetts. Bruno was allegedly murdered on orders from another mobster due to his cooperation with the FBI.
McKinnon, previously on federal supervised release following a prison sentence for stealing firearms from a gun dealer, was apprehended on charges related to Bulger’s killing.
With the recent developments in the case, the judicial proceedings are expected to shed further light on the circumstances surrounding Bulger’s demise and the individuals involved in his tragic end.
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– men charged Whitey Bulger prison killing plea deals prosecutors
– 3 men charged Whitey Bulger prison killing plea deals prosecutors.
