attorney who busted whitey bulger

by Marvin Bechtelar 7 min read

Special agent Barry Mawn and U.S. Attorney General Donald Stern hold a news conference naming Bulger to the FBI's Most Wanted List in August 1999. After more than 16 years on the run, Bulger and Greig were captured in California. Damian Dovarganes/AP

Full Answer

Who is James “Whitey” Bulger?

Oct 26, 2012 · Bulger was one of America’s Most Wanted criminals until his arrest in June 2011 after 16 years as a fugitive. He is accused in a federal racketeering indictment of participating in …

Did Whitey Bulger plead not guilty to 48 charges?

Jun 12, 2013 · After Bucky Barrett talked, "this man over here, James Bulger, shot him in the back of the head,'' Assistant United States Attorney Brian T. Kelly said. And then, Bulger took a nap as others allegedly buried Barrett in the dirt cellar of the …

Who is James Bulger and why was he arrested?

Jan 13, 2015 · BOSTON – A lawyer for mobster James "Whitey" Bulger on Tuesday framed an attempt to get the presiding judge kicked off his client's murder case as an effort to protect the court's integrity. "I'm...

Was the FBI found liable for Bulger?

Jun 18, 2014 · Hank Brennan, Whitey Bulger's Defense Attorney, Makes Bold Claim. Joe Berlinger tackles the question of whether or not Whitey Bulger, the legendary Boston murderer and crime ring organizer, was a federal informant in his new documentary 'Whitey." Bulger's defense attorney, Hank Brennan, is adamant that the 83-year-old was no such thing. "The issue about …

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Jun 06, 2013 · J.W. Carney Carney is Bulger’s lead criminal defense attorney. He graduated from Holy Cross and Boston College Law School and began his career as a full-time public defender in Boston from 1978 to 1983. J. W. Carney, Jr. (Photo courtesy: Carney & Bassil) Carney was an Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County from 1983 to 1988.

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How long has Michael Wyshak been in the US?

Wyshak, 60 , has been with the U.S. Attorney’s Office since 1989. He previously worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. He graduated from New York University and St. John’s Law School.

Where did Brian Kelly go to law school?

Brian Kelly. (Photo courtesy: U.S. Attorney’s Office) Kelly, 52, graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Prior to coming to Boston, he worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.

Who was the first Hispanic woman to represent Massachusetts?

Ortiz was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009. She is the first Hispanic and the first woman to represent Massachusetts as United States Attorney.

Who is the lead criminal defense attorney for Bulger?

Carney is Bulger’s lead criminal defense attorney. He graduated from Holy Cross and Boston College Law School and began his career as a full-time public defender in Boston from 1978 to 1983.

Who is Judge Casper?

Casper has been a federal judge since December 2010. She was nominated by President Obama in April 2010 to fill the seat vacated by the late Judge Reginald Lindsay. Casper is the first black woman to sit on the federal bench in Massachusetts. She’s a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School.

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Early Criminal Career

  • Bulger developed a reputation as a thief and street fighter fiercely loyal to South Boston. This led to him meeting more experienced criminals and finding more lucrative opportunities. In 1943, 14-year-old Bulger was arrested and charged with larceny. By then he had joined a street gang kno…
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FBI Informant

  • In 1971, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) approached Bulger and attempted to recruit him as an informant as part of their effort against the Patriarca crime family. FBI Special Agent John Connolly was assigned to make the pitch. However, Connolly failed to win Bulger's trust.: 5 Three years later, Bulger partnered with Flemmi, an Italian-American mobster who had been an FBI info…
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Criminal Activities in South Boston

  • Consolidating power
    In February 1979, federal prosecutors indicted numerous members of the Winter Hill Gang, including boss Howie Winter, for fixing horse races. Bulger and Flemmi were originally going to be part of this indictment, but Connolly and Morris were able to persuade prosecutor Jeremiah T. O'…
  • The murder of Louis Litif
    In 1980, Bulger was approached in Triple O's by Louis Litif, a Lebanese-American neighborhood bookmaker. Weeks, a bouncer at the bar, said, "He wasn't a big guy, maybe five seven and 185 pounds. Of Arab descent, he had a mustache like Saddam Hussein. ... That night, as always, he …
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Peak Years

  • Throughout the 1980s, Bulger, Flemmi, and Weeks operated rackets throughout eastern Massachusetts including loansharking, bookmaking, truck hijacking, arms trafficking, and extortion. State and federal agencies were repeatedly stymied in their attempts to build cases against Bulger and his inner circle. This was caused by several factors. Among them was the tri…
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Fugitive

  • After fleeing Boston, Bulger and Stanley spent four days over Christmas in Selden, New York, before spending New Year's Day in a hotel in New Orleans's French Quarter. On January 5, 1995, Bulger prepared to return to Boston, believing that it had been a false alarm. That night, however, Flemmi was arrested outside a Boston restaurant by the DEA. Boston police detective Michael Fl…
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Racketeering Trial and Conviction

  • On June 12, 2013, Bulger went on trial in South Boston's John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse before Judge Denise J. Casper on 32 counts of racketeering and firearms possession. The racketeering counts included allegations that Bulger was complicit in 19 murders. The trial lasted two months and included the testimony of 72 witnesses; the jury bega…
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Death

  • Bulger was transferred from the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City to United States Penitentiary, Hazelton, in West Virginia on October 29, 2018. At 8:20 a.m. on October 30, the 89-year-old Bulger was found dead. Bulger was in a wheelchair and had been beaten to death by multiple inmates armed with a sock-wrapped padlock and a shiv. His eyes had nearly been goug…
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Family

  • Bulger had two younger brothers, William Michael "Billy" Bulger (born 1934) and John "Jackie" P. Bulger (born 1938). William Bulger served in the military during the Korean War but was never posted to Korea. He was formerly an influential leader of the Democratic Party in Massachusetts. In a long political career, William rose to become President of the Massachusetts Senate. After …
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Personal Life

  • Bulger fathered one child, Douglas Glenn Cyr (1967–1973), during a 12-year relationship with Lindsey Cyr, a waitress and former fashion model living in North Weymouth, Massachusetts. Bulger and Cyr began living together in 1966, when Cyr was 21 and a waitress at a North Quincy café. According to Cyr, "He used to say that there were four people he would turn up on a street …
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