EGN NEWS DESK
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A former Mafia hitman already serving life in jail was sentenced to 25 years Friday within the 2018 deadly jail bludgeoning of infamous Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger.
Prosecutors mentioned Fotios “Freddy” Geas used a lock hooked up to a belt to repeatedly hit the 89-year-old Bulger within the head hours after he arrived on the troubled U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton, from one other lockup in Florida in October 2018. Defense attorneys disputed that characterization Friday, saying Geas hit Bulger along with his fist.
The Justice Department mentioned final 12 months that it will not search the loss of life penalty towards Geas in Bulger’s killing.
The sentences — 15 years for voluntary manslaughter and 10 years for assault leading to critical bodily harm — will probably be served consecutively with one another as effectively to the present life time period for Geas.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh agreed to a sentencing advice from prosecutors that was longer than authorities pointers. Kleeh mentioned he discovered the ultimate consequence to be “honest, affordable and simply.” The judge dismissed extra critical fees that included homicide and conspiracy to commit first-degree homicide, which every carried most penalties of life in jail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Flower mentioned the sentence advice was primarily based partially on the ages of Bulger and Geas, 57.
“Mr. Geas is just not actually going to have a chance to step exterior,” Flower mentioned. “That is the place he’s going to spend the remainder of his days.”
Geas declined to make a press release in court docket previous to sentencing.
Bulger, who ran the largely Irish gang in Boston within the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s, additionally served as an FBI informant who ratted on his gang’s principal rival, in line with the bureau. Bulger strongly denied ever being a authorities informant.
Bulger turned one of many nation’s most wished fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994 because of a tip from his FBI handler that he was about to be indicted. In 2011, he was captured in Santa Monica at age 81 after greater than 16 years on the run and convicted in 2013 in 11 killings and dozens of different gangland crimes.
Another Hazelton prisoner, Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero, was sentenced to greater than 4 years in jail in August on an assault cost in Bulger’s killing. Prosecutors mentioned he acted as a lookout for Geas. A 3rd inmate, Sean McKinnon, pleaded responsible in June to mendacity to FBI particular brokers. McKinnon was given no extra jail time and was returned to Florida to complete his supervised launch. He had served a sentence for stealing weapons from a firearms vendor.
According to court docket data, prisoners discovered forward of time that Bulger can be arriving on the West Virginia facility. DeCologero and Geas spent about seven minutes in Bulger’s cell through the assault.
A prisoner testified to a grand jury that DeCologero informed him Bulger was a “snitch” they usually deliberate to kill him as quickly as he got here into their unit.
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. He and his brother have been sentenced to life in 2011 for his or her roles in a number of violent crimes, together with the 2003 killing of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, a Genovese crime household boss in Springfield, Massachusetts. Another mobster ordered Bruno’s killing as a result of he was upset that Bruno had talked to the FBI, prosecutors mentioned.
Plea offers for Geas, DeCologero and McKinnon have been disclosed May 13. Geas and DeCologero have been recognized as suspects shortly after Bulger’s loss of life, however they remained uncharged for years because the investigation dragged on.
After the killing, specialists criticized Bulger’s switch to Hazelton, the place employees had already been sounding the alarm about violence and understaffing, and his placement within the common inhabitants as an alternative of extra protecting housing.
A Justice Department inspector common investigation present in 2022 that the killing was the results of a number of layers of administration failures, widespread incompetence and flawed insurance policies on the federal Bureau of Prisons. The inspector common discovered no proof of “malicious intent” by any bureau staff however mentioned a collection of bureaucratic blunders left Bulger on the mercy of rival gangsters.
In court docket Friday, protection legal professional Nathan Chambers known as the Bureau of Prisons’ conduct “surprising” and “egregious.” He mentioned Geas disputed some witness statements that have been included in a presentencing report and famous an post-mortem confirmed the reason for loss of life was a single blow to the left ear.
“There’s no proof {that a} weapon was used, not to mention a padlock,” Chambers mentioned.
Flower later mentioned the protection and prosecutors beforehand agreed to the details within the case, together with who went out and in of Bulger’s cell, and what occurred to Bulger.
Also in 2022, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Bulger’s household towards the bureau and 30 unidentified jail system staff.
In July, the U.S. Senate handed laws to overtake oversight and convey higher transparency to the bureau following reporting from The Associated Press that uncovered systemic corruption within the federal jail system and led to elevated congressional scrutiny.
Originally Published:
