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Supreme Court rejects Boston gangster 'Whitey' Bulger's appeal
Source: Reuters
U.S. | Mon Oct 3, 2016 | 9:54am EDT
Supreme Court rejects Boston gangster 'Whitey' Bulger's appeal
By Scott Malone | BOSTON
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear former Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger's appeal of his 2013 conviction for committing or ordering the murders of 11 people, leaving the 87-year-old to spend the rest of his life in prison.
His lawyers contend that Bulger, who ruled over Boston's underworld in the 1970s and 1980s, was denied a fair trial because the judge prevented him from testifying that a now-dead former U.S. prosecutor gave him immunity for his crimes in exchange for protection.
Bulger is serving a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole at a federal penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March upheld Bulger's convictions on 31 of 32 criminal counts he faced in his racketeering trial, including 11 murders, extortion and drug offenses.
He fled Boston in 1994 after being tipped off by a corrupt FBI agent that his arrest was imminent. He spent 16 years on the lam, most of them listed atop the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list before agents caught up with him hiding in a seaside apartment in Santa Monica, California.
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Supreme Court rejects Boston gangster 'Whitey' Bulger's appeal
By Scott Malone | BOSTON
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear former Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger's appeal of his 2013 conviction for committing or ordering the murders of 11 people, leaving the 87-year-old to spend the rest of his life in prison.
His lawyers contend that Bulger, who ruled over Boston's underworld in the 1970s and 1980s, was denied a fair trial because the judge prevented him from testifying that a now-dead former U.S. prosecutor gave him immunity for his crimes in exchange for protection.
Bulger is serving a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole at a federal penitentiary in Sumterville, Florida. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March upheld Bulger's convictions on 31 of 32 criminal counts he faced in his racketeering trial, including 11 murders, extortion and drug offenses.
He fled Boston in 1994 after being tipped off by a corrupt FBI agent that his arrest was imminent. He spent 16 years on the lam, most of them listed atop the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list before agents caught up with him hiding in a seaside apartment in Santa Monica, California.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-bulger-idUSKCN1231G8