Alleged lookout in prison killing of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger leaves court a free man

Sean McKinnon, the accused co-conspirator in the bludgeoning death of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger , was sentenced to time served on Monday, avoiding any additional prison time.

McKinnon, 38, pled guilty to the lesser charge of lying to a federal officer, with prosecutors dropping the most serious charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Last month, McKinnon, along with convicted mob enforcers Fotios "Freddy" Geas and Paul DeCologero, agreed to plea deals with the federal government. McKinnon remains the first of these three to appear before the U.S. district court in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

Originally accused of being a "lookout" for Geas and DeCologero as they entered Bulger's cell, McKinnon has insisted he had nothing to do with the murder. In interviews with NBC and the Boston Globe , he vehemently denied the charge. Rather than keeping watch for guards, McKinnon claims he had only been watching the morning news on the chow hall television.

"I'm an innocent man," he said.

McKinnon also claims he had been best friends with Geas and DeCologero at the time of the killing, reassuring that they, too, are "innocent men."

On Oct. 29, 2018, Bulger was transferred from a prison in Sumterville, Florida, to the U.S. penitentiary in Hazelton, West Virginia, one of America's most violent correctional facilities. Wheelchair-bound, the 89-year-old had served eight years of his double life sentence for crimes ranging from extortion and racketeering to multiple homicides. Bulger's impending arrival was well known in Hazelton, with jailwide chants of "rat" echoing in the hours before his arrival.

Rather than protective custody, Bulger was assigned to the general population, where, according to prosecutors, DeCologero told a witness that he would kill the former mob boss as soon as he arrived. Inmates placed bets on how long Bulger would survive.

Around 6 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 30, Gaes and DeCologero entered Bulger's cell when the rest of the unit had been released for breakfast. As McKinnon sat at a table outside, Geas and DeCologero allegedly used a padlock stuffed into a sock to beat Bulger to death while in his wheelchair. They also reportedly tried to gouge his eyes out with a shiv and attempted to cut off his tongue.

Surveillance footage reportedly did not capture the crime but filmed the two entering his cell and leaving in blood-splattered clothes, only to return with a mop and bucket for cleanup.

Bulger's family and attorney claim the "government" remains the true culprit behind his death.

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Bulger ran the crime syndicate out of Somerville, Massachusetts, known as the Winter Hill Gang. Known for his ruthlessness, Bulger monopolized the illegal gambling, drug, and firearm markets in South Boston, often extorting local dealers by allowing them to sell in his territory in exchange for a share of the profit.

In 1971, Bulger was approached by John Connolly, an FBI agent who had grown up just a few doors down from Bulger in Boston's Old Harbor Housing Project. For years, Bulger partnered with the bureau, providing information on the rival Patriarca Crime Family out of Providence. In exchange, the FBI ignored the criminal activities of the Winter Hill Gang.

In the late '90s, Connolly tipped off Bulger about impending Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act indictments, leading the boss to flee Boston. For 16 years, law enforcement officials searched worldwide for Bulger. In 1999, he claimed a spot on the FBI's most wanted list, second only to Osama bin Laden.

Eventually capturing him and his girlfriend in front of their apartment in Santa Monica, California, Bulger was sent back to Boston for trial in 2011. With the help of Winter Hill Lt.-turned-informant Kevin Weeks, Bulger was charged with various counts of racketeering, extortion, and the distribution of narcotics, as well as his involvement in 19 murders.

Due to rumors and a report from the Boston Globe's "Spotlight Team" in 1988, Bulger was known on the street as a "snitch." In 1997, Paul Coffey at the Department of Justice confirmed these claims, leading to an investigation into the relationship between Bulger and Connolly. Despite this, Bulger denied any accusation that he was an informant, even up to the time of his death.

Originally charged in Vermont with the robbery of a dozen handguns back in 2016, McKinnon finished his sentence in 2022. After Bulger's murder, McKinnon was held in solitary confinement for nearly 2 1/2 years, a fact referenced by the defense in pursuit of McKinnon receiving time served. He had no known ties to organized crime.

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Geas and DeCologero, on the other hand, were two known Boston mob enforcers. Geas is serving time at a Colorado supermax prison, in part for the 2003 murder of Springfield boss Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno. DeCologero, a mobster from the North Shore of Massachusetts, is serving time for the murder of a teenage girl he worried might give up his crew.

Both have made plea deals and are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The dates for sentencing and plea hearings are Aug. 1 for DeCologero and Sept. 6 for Geas.