3 men indicted in Whitey Bulger's prison beating death
BOSTON – Three men have been indicted in connection with the prison beating death of Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, the FBI announced on Thursday.
Bulger was killed in a federal prison in West Virginia nearly four years ago.
Fotios "Freddy" Geas, 55, Paul "Pauly" DeCologero, 48, and 36-year-old Sean McKinnon were charged Wednesday with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Prosecutors said mob enforcer Geas, of West Springfield, and DeCologero, of Lowell, allegedly hit Bulger in the head multiple times in October 2018 while they were inmates at United States Penitentiary Hazleton in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.
Both men are also charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Geas is separately charged with murder by a federal inmate serving a life sentence.
McKinnon is charged with making false statements to a federal agent.
Author Casey Sherman interviewed Gaes for his book "Hunting Whitey."
"Freddy Geas was an old-school gangster, and he lived by the code that you don't - quote, unquote - rat on your friends," Sherman said.
He said Bulger should never had been transferred to the prison where he died because he was a known FBI informant. The attack happened just hours after his transfer from the Florida prison where he had been serving a life sentence for 11 murders.
"Whitey Bulger was transferred to USP Hazelton, which they call "Misery Mountain." It's the most violent prison in the federal prison system," Sherman said.
Bulger was on the FBI's most wanted list for years before police arrested him in Southern California in 2011.
U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins released a statement about the arrests. "With the indictment announced today, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia has started the process of holding the men alleged to have violently ended a life accountable. In the truest of ironies, Bulger's family has experienced the excruciating pain and trauma their relative inflicted on far too many, and the justice system is now coming to their aid." She then listed the names of Bulger's victims.
Geas remains in USP Hazelton, while DeCologero is in a different federal prison system.
McKinnon was on supervised release when he was indicted. According to the FBI's Boston office, he was arrested Thursday in Florida.
Bulger was 89 years old at the time of his death.