A hitman serving life in prison gets more time for killing ‘Whitey’ Bulger

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A former Mafia hitman already serving life in prison was sentenced to 25 years Friday in the 2018 fatal prison bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger.

Prosecutors said 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 the troubled U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton, from another lockup in Florida in October 2018. Defense attorneys disputed that characterization Friday, saying Geas hit Bulger with his fist.

The Justice Department said last year that it would not seek the death penalty against Geas in Bulger’s killing.

The sentences — 15 years for voluntary manslaughter and 10 years for assault resulting in serious bodily injury — will be served consecutively with each other as well to the current life term for Geas.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh agreed to a sentencing recommendation from prosecutors that was longer than government guidelines. Kleeh said he found the final result to be “fair, reasonable and just.” The judge dismissed more serious charges that included murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which each carried maximum penalties of life in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Flower said the sentence recommendation was based in part on the ages of Bulger and Geas, 57.

“Mr. Geas is not really going to have an opportunity to step outside,” Flower said. “That is where he’s going to spend the rest of his days.”

Geas declined to make a statement in court prior to sentencing.

Bulger, who ran the largely Irish gang in Boston in the 1970s and ’80s, also served as an FBI informant who ratted on his gang’s main rival, according to the bureau. Bulger strongly denied ever being a government informant.

Bulger 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 and convicted in 2013 in 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes.

Another Hazelton prisoner, Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero, was sentenced to more than four years in prison in August on an assault charge in Bulger’s killing. Prosecutors said he acted as a lookout for Geas. A third inmate, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June to lying to FBI special agents. McKinnon was given no additional prison time and was returned to Florida to finish his supervised release. He had served a sentence for stealing guns from a firearms dealer.

According to court records, prisoners found out ahead of time that Bulger would be arriving at the West Virginia facility. DeCologero and Geas spent about seven minutes in Bulger’s cell during the attack.

A prisoner testified to a grand jury that DeCologero told him Bulger was a “snitch” and they planned to kill him as soon as he came into their unit.

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 Bruno had talked to the FBI, prosecutors said.

Plea deals for Geas, DeCologero and McKinnon 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.

After the killing, experts criticized Bulger’s transfer to Hazelton, where workers had already been sounding the alarm about violence and understaffing, and his placement 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 court Friday, defense attorney Nathan Chambers called the Bureau of Prisons’ conduct “shocking” and “egregious.” He said Geas disputed some witness statements that were included in a presentencing report and noted an autopsy showed the cause of death was a single blow to the left ear.

“There’s no evidence that a weapon was used, let alone a padlock,” Chambers said.

Flower later said the defense and prosecutors previously agreed to the facts in the case, including who went in and out of Bulger’s cell, and what happened to Bulger.

Also in 2022, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Bulger’s family against the bureau and 30 unidentified prison system employees.

In July, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to overhaul oversight and bring greater transparency to the bureau following reporting from The Associated Press that exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and led to increased congressional scrutiny.