Boston, MA
James ‘Whitey’ Bulger: three charged with 2018 prison killing of Boston crime boss
Three males, together with a mafia hitman, have been charged within the 2018 jail killing of the infamous Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
Bulger’s loss of life raised questions on why the identified “snitch” was positioned within the West Virginia jail’s common inhabitants as a substitute of in additional protecting quarters.
The boys – Fotios “Freddy” Geas, 55, Paul J DeCologero, 48, and Sean McKinnon, 36 – have been charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree homicide. Prosecutors allege Geas and DeCologero struck Bulger within the head a number of instances, inflicting his loss of life. McKinnon is charged individually with making false statements to a federal agent.
Bulger, who ran the largely Irish mob in Boston within the 70s and 80s, served as an FBI informant who ratted on his gang’s primary rival, based on the bureau. He later turned one of many nation’s most-wanted fugitives. Bulger strongly denied ever being a authorities informant.
Authorities haven’t revealed a potential motive for Bulger’s killing, which got here hours after he was transferred to USP Hazelton in West Virginia from a jail in Florida. He had been serving a life sentence for 11 murders and different crimes.
“Within the truest of ironies, Bulger’s household has skilled the excruciating ache and trauma their relative inflicted on far too many, and the justice system is now coming to their assist,” the US legal professional for Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins, mentioned in an emailed assertion.
Geas, who authorities say was a mafia hitman, stays in jail in Hazelton. DeCologero is being held in one other federal jail facility. McKinnon was launched from jail final month after pleading responsible in 2015 to stealing weapons from a firearms supplier. He was on federal supervised launch when the indictment was handed down, and was arrested on Thursday in Florida.
Geas and DeCologero have been recognized as suspects shortly after Bulger’s loss of life, based on regulation enforcement officers on the time, however they remained uncharged because the investigation dragged on for years.
Bulger’s household sued the Federal Bureau of Prisons and 30 unnamed workers of the jail system over his loss of life, alleging it appeared the gangster was “intentionally despatched to his loss of life”. A federal choose dismissed the household’s lawsuit in January.
Hank Brennan, who represented Bulger and his household, accused the Division of Justice of ready to convey costs till after the household’s lawsuit was dismissed to keep away from having info come out within the prison case that may very well be used in opposition to the federal government within the household’s civil case.
“They’re merely defending themselves like they’ve all the time completed,” Brennan mentioned. “There may very well be no ongoing investigation that took this lengthy.”
The three males have been positioned in solitary confinement all through the investigation, relations advised the Boston Globe. McKinnon’s mom advised the newspaper that her son, who was Geas’s cellmate on the time of Bulger’s loss of life, advised her he didn’t know something in regards to the killing.
Daniel Kelly, an legal professional for Geas, mentioned on Thursday that the costs aren’t a shock, however don’t justify his consumer’s continued placement in solitary confinement. It wasn’t instantly clear if McKinnon and DeCologero had attorneys to touch upon their behalf.
DeCologero was a part of an organised crime gang led by his uncle on Massachusetts’ North Shore referred to as the “DeCologero Crew”.
He was convicted of shopping for heroin that was used to attempt to kill a teenage woman his uncle needed lifeless as a result of he feared she would betray the crew to police. The heroin didn’t kill her, so one other man broke her neck, dismembered her and buried her stays within the woods, courtroom data say.
Geas was a detailed affiliate of the mafia and acted as an enforcer, however was not an official “made” member as a result of he’s Greek, not Italian.
Geas and his brother have been sentenced to life in jail in 2011 for his or her roles in a number of violent crimes, together with the 2003 killing of Adolfo “Huge Al” Bruno, a Genovese crime household boss in Springfield, Massachusetts. One other mobster ordered Bruno’s killing as a result of he was upset he had talked to the FBI, prosecutors mentioned.
Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 after his FBI handler, John Connolly Jr, warned him he was about to be indicted.
After greater than 16 years on the run and with a $2m reward on his head, he was captured at age 81 in Santa Monica, California, the place he had been residing in a rent-controlled condominium close to the seashore together with his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig.
His switch to Hazelton was prompted by disciplinary points, a federal regulation enforcement official mentioned. In February 2018, Bulger threatened an assistant supervisor on the jail in Florida, telling her “your day of reckoning is coming”.
A jail employees’ union official advised the AP that 12 months that sending Bulger to the troubled federal penitentiary that housed different New England gangsters was like giving him a “loss of life sentence”.
Bulger by no means admitted to working for the FBI. Courtroom papers made public within the civil case introduced by his household confirmed he was interviewed by workers after arriving at Hazelton about whether or not there have been causes he ought to be stored out of the overall inhabitants. An consumption screening kind, signed by Bulger, mentioned he answered “no” to the query “have you ever assisted regulation enforcement brokers in any method?”
Boston, MA
Red Sox Icon David Ortiz Urges Boston To ‘Make It Rain’ For Free-Agent Slugger
The Boston Red Sox hive mind doesn’t always come to a perfect agreement on what they want the team to do. That is, of course, unless David Ortiz is asking for it.
A three-time World Series champion, Hall of Famer, and one of the most clutch players of all time, Ortiz is unquestionably on the Red Sox’s all-time Mount Rushmore. Even though he retired in 2016, he’s still closely woven into the fabric of the organization.
Ortiz sees what we all do: this Red Sox team is close to being ready to contend for the playoffs, but there’s one key ingredient missing. He made his feelings known about what he hopes the front office does between now and Opening Day to address that issue.
On Saturday, Ortiz relayed a simple message to the Red Sox: spend whatever it takes to get one more big bat.
“There’s still some guys out there that we can still go for, and I think we have a really good front office,” Ortiz said in an appearance on NESN. “To put a good lineup together nowadays is not that difficult. What you got to do is just make it rain, and you can go pick a few guys. Now pitching, on the other hand, is the toughest thing to put together.
“We got pitching. Pitching can always stop good offenses. The playoff is a playoff pitching (staff) we got right now. We line up a couple of thunders in the lineup to help (Rafael Devers) and the rest of them boys — one good bat would do.”
Ortiz and NESN host Tom Caron both strongly hinted at the end of the interview who that big bat could be: former Houston Astros All-Star Alex Bregman. Manager Alex Cora also signaled earlier in the day that Bregman would be a great fit in Boston.
Bregman isn’t quite Ortiz, but he does have one thing on him: the career record for OPS at Fenway Park. He has a wild 1.245 mark in 98 plate appearances in Boston throughout his career.
When David Ortiz asks for something, the Red Sox would usually be wise to follow through. And it seems he wants Bregman. Will that move the needle in the suites at Fenway?
More MLB: Red Sox Predicted To Land Ex-Padres $28 Million Gold Glover In Free Agency Surprise
Boston, MA
Greater Boston enjoys a light snow, travel not significantly impacted – The Boston Globe
The snow showers come from a weakening system approaching from the Great Lakes that tapped into some of the moisture from a strong storm passing south of New England.
The region was spared the worst precipitation of the storm thanks to persistent sub-freezing temperatures earlier this week, which pushed it south toward its current location off the coast of North Carolina, Nocera said. New England’s light snowfall is on the northern fringes of the storm.
Nocera added that this weekend’s “decorative snow” will not significantly impact ground travel.
The Massachusetts Port Authority issued a travel advisory for flight delays at Boston Logan International Airport. According to the flight tracking website Flight Aware, as of around 1:00 p.m. 212 flights were delayed at Boston Logan and another 15 were cancelled.
Margo Griffin, a teaching associate at the University of Cambridge in England, was initially worried about driving through the snow on her way to get coffee in Cambridge, but said the view from the Charles River was worth the trek.
“I thought it might be a problem, but I just decided to go ahead with the plan, and I’m enjoying walking through the snow,” Griffin said.
Other Boston-area residents who spoke to the Globe Saturday morning were happy to wake up to the winter scene on Saturday.
“I am feeling wonderful about the snow. I haven’t seen it in a long time,” said Barbara Delollis, a communications lead at Harvard Business School.
Delollis already made snow day plans.
“We want to go out and have some fun in the snow, and take a lot of pictures and just remember this moment, because we don’t know how much more snowfall we’re going to see in the Boston area anymore with climate change,” Delollis said.
Talia, a Cambridge resident, said that the snow had no effect on her plans to attend synagogue with her two-year-old son Saturday morning.
“It feels nice and seasonal, which is cool because climate change is terrifying,” she said.
Snowstorms can still occur, despite warming temperatures from climate change, Nocera said. Although Saturday’s snowfall cannot guarantee heavy snow this winter, there is a slightly higher chance of snow towards the end of the month as cold temperatures ease.
Materials from previous Globe stories were used in this report.
Boston, MA
Boston College drops Hockey East contest to Merrimack
The second-ranked Boston College men’s hockey team suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to Merrimack by a score of 5-2 in Hockey East action on Friday night at Kelley Rink. The Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second, but the Warriors scored the next five. BC falls to 12-4-1 overall and 6-3-1 in Hockey East, while Merrimack improves to 8-10-1 overall and 4-5-1 in league play. The Eagles opened the scoring midway through the first period when Oskar Jellvik one-timed the rebound off an Aram Minnetian shot that was saved by the Merrimack goaltender. Minnetian’s shot fell right into the path of Jellvik for the quick shot into the open net to put the Eagles in front. BC added to its lead shortly into the second period when Brady Berard scored a short-handed goal. Merrimack responded 32 seconds later with a power-play goal to get on the board, before scoring the game-tying goal less than one minute after that. The Warriors took the lead nearly three minutes later when Merrimack scored its third goal of the period. The Warriors scored twice in the third period to push their lead to three. Jacob Fowler made 23 saves while Nils Wallstrom had 27 stops for Merrimack.
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