Notorious Irish American mob boss James 'Whitey' Bulger has been sentenced to life in prison for eleven killings and further charges including extortion and money laundering.
On Thursday, Judge Denise Casper sentenced Bulger to two consecutive life sentences plus five years telling him his crimes were 'heinous' and 'all about money.'
Bulger, 84, reportedly stared at her, listening intently but not speaking. Earlier he had called the trial a sham and declined to testify there or at his sentencing hearing.
The sentencing brings to a close a shameful chapter of Boston history, rife with FBI and government corruption that allowed Bulger to conduct his reign of terror for decades and even flee before facing an indictment.
Buldger was on the lam for more than 16 years until he was finally captured in Santa Monica, CA in 2011.
According to the Boston Globe, relatives of Bulger’s victims poured scorn on him during testimony in his sentencing hearing in federal court in Boston.
'This man has built up so much hate in my heart I’d like to strangle him myself,' said Steven Davis, whose sister Debra was killed by Bulger prosecutors say. 'I hope Whitey dies the same way my sister did, gasping for breath.'
'You won’t even turn around and look at us, coward?' Patrick Callahan, whose father John was killed by a hit man on Bulger’s orders in Florida in 1982, cried.
At the end of the hearing Judge Casper reportedly asked Bulger if he wanted to make a statement. Bulger rose and said, 'No.'
Defense attorney Jay W. Carney Jr. told the press that Bulger had been affected by the testimony. 'I sat right next to him. I saw how he reacted to it, and I think it was in response to their words.'
Carney said Bulger felt he had not received a fair trial because he was not able to testify about the FBI corruption and an immunity agreement that he claims he reached with federal prosecutors.
'The trial became a sham in his mind as a result. He did not want to validate the trial by participating directly, or indirectly through us, in the sentencing process. And so to have made a statement at the trial or to have turned directly and faced the people who testified today, would have been part of validating the trial,' Carney said.
In August jurors found that Bulger had participated in eleven murders while operating a huge criminal enterprise from the 1970's through the 1990s - trafficking in cocaine and marijuana, extorting money from drug dealers, local businessmen, and bookmakers. Bulger's operations also frequently corrupted FBI agents and other law enforcement officials.
Bulger was also convicted of 31 counts of racketeering, extortion, money laundering, and weapons possession.
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors said Bulger 'has no redeeming qualities' and faces a mandatory term under federal sentencing guidelines of life in prison, followed by another life sentence for possessing machine guns and another five-year term for possessing handguns.
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