AUGUST 1, 2024:
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — An inmate was sentenced to more than four years Thursday (Aug. 1, 2024) for his role in the 2018 fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in a troubled West Virginia federal prison.
Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to an assault charge. He could have faced up to 10 years in prison. DeCologero was already serving a 25-year sentence handed down in 2006 after he was convicted of buying heroin used to try to kill a teenage girl.
Prosecutors initially had said DeCologero and inmate Fotios “Freddy” Geas used a lock attached to a belt to repeatedly hit the 89-year-old Bulger in the head hours after he arrived at USP Hazelton from another lockup in Florida. But on Thursday, both prosecutors and the defense said DeCologero only served as a lookout and had not physically assaulted Bulger.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh said the sentence was “fair, just and appropriate” and “strikes the balance the court is trying to seek.”
DeCologero, 50, declined to speak when given the opportunity to address the court. Defense attorney Patrick Nash began by conveying an apology from DeCologero to Bulger’s family as well as the inmate’s own relatives.
Nash described DeCologero as the victim of an “abusive and neglectful” upbringing.
“Paul has had an incredibly difficult life,” Nash said. “As a result of that, Paul is a person who is easily led. Anyone who shows him attention, he’s easily led.”
An uncle eventually took in DeCologero and made him part of a criminal organization, Nash said.
In Bulger’s killing, “Paul was involved,” Nash said. “He is guilty. But his role was limited.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Flower declined to comment after the sentencing.
According to court records, inmates found out ahead of time that Bulger would be arriving at Hazelton. An inmate previously told a grand jury that DeCologero said to him that Bulger was a snitch and they planned to kill him as soon as he came into their unit.
Prosecutors have said DeCologero and Geas spent about seven minutes in Bulger’s cell. Geas hit Bulger, while DeCologero served as a lookout and helped cover Bulger’s body, Flower said Thursday. DeCologero’s DNA was found on two blankets, the prosecutor said.
Geas has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which carries up to a life sentence. His hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6. Last year, the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty.
Another inmate, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June to lying to FBI special agents. McKinnon got credit for spending 22 months in custody after his 2022 indictment, was given no additional prison time and was returned to Florida to finish his supervised release. McKinnon had served out a sentence for stealing guns from a firearms dealer.
Plea deals for the three men were disclosed May 13. Geas and DeCologero were identified as suspects shortly after Bulger’s death, but they remained uncharged for years as the investigation dragged on.
Prior to Bulger’s death, employees at Hazelton had been sounding the alarm about violence and understaffing. After Bulger was killed, prison officials were criticized for placing him in the general population instead of more protective housing.
A Justice Department inspector general investigation found in 2022 that the killing was the result of multiple layers of management failures, widespread incompetence and flawed policies at the federal Bureau of Prisons. The inspector general found no evidence of “malicious intent” by any bureau employees but said a series of bureaucratic blunders left Bulger at the mercy of rival gangsters.
In July, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to overhaul oversight and bring greater transparency to the Bureau of Prisons following reporting from The Associated Press that exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and increased congressional scrutiny.
Bulger, who ran the largely Irish mob in Boston in the 1970s and ’80s, was also an FBI informant who provided the agency with information on the main rival to his gang.
He became one of the nation’s most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994, thanks to a tip from his FBI handler that he was about to be indicted. He was captured at age 81 after more than 16 years on the run.
Bulger was convicted in 2013 in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant.
DeCologero, who was in a gang led by his uncle, was convicted of buying heroin that was used to try to kill a teenage girl because his uncle feared she would betray the crew to police. After the heroin did not kill her, another man broke her neck, dismembered her body and buried her remains in the woods, court records say.
Geas was a close associate of the Mafia and acted as an enforcer but was not an official “made” member because he is Greek, not Italian. He and his brother were sentenced to life in 2011 for their roles in several violent crimes, including the 2003 killing of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, a Genovese crime family boss in Springfield, Massachusetts. Another mobster ordered Bruno’s killing because he was upset that he had talked to the FBI, prosecutors said.
DECEMBER 7, 2022:
Extended version:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The beating death of notorious gangster James “Whitey” Bulger at the hands of fellow inmates was the result of multiple layers of management failures, widespread incompetence and flawed policies at the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Wednesday (Dec. 7, 2022).
At least six bureau workers should be disciplined, the watchdog concluded after the multiyear investigation into how the 89-year-old was killed in his cell hours after the FBI informant arrived at a troubled West Virginia prison.
The inspector general found no evidence of “malicious intent” by any bureau employees, but said a series of bureaucratic blunders left Bulger at the mercy of rival gangsters behind bars.
Bureau officials tried several times to downgrade Bulger’s medical status in order to move him to other prisons after he caused trouble at a Florida lockup, despite the fact that he used a wheelchair and had serious heart conditions.
News of Bulger’s transfer to West Virginia’s USP Hazelton was shared widely among agency officials and quickly spread among inmates before his arrival. Bureau officials failed to take into account or were unware of Bulger’s notoriety in their handling of his transfer despite his well-known history as an FBI asset.
“In our view, no BOP inmate’s transfer, whether they are a notorious offender or a non-violent offender, should be handled like Bulger’s transfer was in this instance,” the report said.
It’s the latest black eye for the bureau, which has been under increasing scrutiny from Congress and the public after the deaths of several high-profile inmates, including Bulger and wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in custody in 2019.
An Associated Press investigation has found myriad crises within the agency, including widespread criminal conduct by employees, rampant allegations of sexual assault and significant staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies.
Since Bulger’s death, prisons officials have improved communications regarding medical transfers and improved training and technology, the agency said in a statement in response to the report. The bureau said it may take more action, but did not comment on whether any employees were disciplined.
Bulger was portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 2015 film “Black Mass” and was the inspiration for Jack Nicholson’s ruthless crime boss in the 2006 movie “The Departed.” Bulger led a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets. He served as an FBI informant who provided information on the New England mob in an era when bringing down organized crime was a top national priority for the FBI.
He fled Boston in late 1994 after his FBI handler warned him he was about to be indicted and spent 16 years as one of America’s most wanted figures before he was captured at age 81 in Santa Monica, California. He was convicted in 2013 in 11 slayings, as well as extortion, and money laundering.
Bulger’s transfer to Hazelton, where workers had already been sounding the alarm about violence and understaffing, and placement in the general population instead of more protective housing were widely criticized by experts after his killing.
More than 100 Bureau of Prisons officials found out in advance that Bulger would be moving to Hazelton, and prison staff openly talked about the transfer in front of inmates, the inspector general’s report said. So many prison employees knew that it was impossible for the inspector general to determine who disclosed it to the inmates, the report said.
Multiple inmates told bureau officials that everyone knew Bulger would be killed, the report said. One inmate said: “He was a rat. What would you think would happen to him?” Another said: “I heard he was a well-known government informant. … Seems he shouldn’t have walked the yard. He wouldn’t have been OK anywhere.”
There was no formal process for deciding which unit to house inmates at Hazelton. One case manager told investigators they “just choose them off the bus normally,” according to the report. In Bulger’s case, a unit manager volunteered to take him, believing his team was best-equipped to handle the high-profile inmate — even though there was at least one other inmate associated with organized crime in that unit.
In a lawsuit against the former Bureau of Prisons director and others, Bulger’s family accused prison officials of failing to protect Bulger even though they were well aware he had been labeled a “snitch.” The suit said the penitentiary nicknamed “Misery Mountain” was such an inappropriate place to send Bulger that it appeared he was “deliberately sent to his death.” A judge dismissed that case in January, concluding that federal law precludes the family’s ability to sue over a decision to transfer Bulger to West Virginia.
The Justice Department only brought charges in the killing this year, nearly four years later, even though officials had identified suspects right away.
Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a former Mafia hitman, and Paul J. DeCologero, a Massachusetts gangster, are accused of striking Bulger in the head multiple times while a third man, Sean McKinnon, acted as a lookout. An inmate witness told authorities that DeCologero said he and Geas used a belt with a lock attached to it to beat Bulger to death, prosecutors say.
They are charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. They could face up to life in prison if convicted under a revised indictment filed Wednesday with a heftier potential sentence. They have pleaded not guilty and McKinnon has said denied involvement in the killing.
According to the watchdog’s report, Bulger’s medical and psychological health declined after he was housed alone in single cell in Florida for eight months — disciplined for threatening a nurse — and prison staff struggled to figure out how to get him transferred. Bulger told prison staff “he had lost the will to live,” and that may have been a factor when he insisted that he wanted to be housed with the rest of the inmates in West Virginia rather than in a more protected unit.
Bulger never admitted to working with the FBI, although evidence presented at his trial showed Bulger secretly provided information on a variety of criminals. Court papers made public in his family’s civil case showed that he was interviewed by staff after arriving at Hazelton. An intake screening form signed by Bulger said he answered “no” when asked whether he ever assisted law enforcement agents in any way and if he knew of any reason he should not be placed in the general population.
OCTOBER 2021:
BOSTON (AP) — No one has been charged in the killing of murderous Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger in a West Virginia prison three years ago. Authorities have never officially publicly identified any suspects and many questions remain unanswered. Chief among them is why the well-known government informant was put in the troubled penitentiary’s general population alongside other New England gangsters in the first place. Bulger was killed Oct. 30, 2018, hours after being transferred to USP Hazelton in Bruceton Mills. He’d been serving a life sentence for participating in 11 killings. The gangster spent 16 years on the lam before being captured in 2011.
