Prison inmate accused of murdering James 'Whitey' Bulger in 2018 expected to admit guilt and receive sentencing today.
Accusations have been leveled against McKinnon for serving as a lookout on October 30, 2018, while inmates Fotios Geas and Paul J. DeCologero from US Penitentiary Hazelton reportedly battered Bulger to death merely 12 hours following his transfer to the institution in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.
Bulger, infamous leader of Boston’s Irish mob who evaded capture for over 16 years until his June 2011 arrest, was discovered unconscious in his prison cell, ultimately succumbing to blunt-force head injuries sustained from being assaulted by others. He was 89 at the time of his death.
McKinnon, Geas, and DeCologero have all consented to plead guilty, according to court documents filed by prosecutors last month.
Each man has been charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and McKinnon has also been indicted for making false statements to a federal agent regarding his knowledge of Bulger’s murder, as previously reported by CNN.
Geas and DeCologero are accused of repeatedly striking Bulger, leading to his demise, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia. They both face first-degree murder and assault charges in connection to the killing, and Geas is also charged with murder by a federal inmate serving a life sentence, court records indicate.
DeCologero is set to appear in court on August 1 to plead guilty and receive sentencing, and Geas is expected in court for the same purposes on September 6, as per court records.
Bulger’s criminal reign as head of south Boston’s Winter Hill gang from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s made him one of the most wanted men in the US, who evaded arrest from federal authorities on racketeering and murder charges for more than a decade.
A judge later described Bulger’s terrorizing of Boston as involving “unbelievable” acts. Federal prosecutors state that he led the gang through the mid-1990s.
Bulger, whose criminal exploits inspired Jack Nicholson’s character in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film, “The Departed,” was apprehended in California in 2011 and sentenced to two life terms in prison in 2013, following a jury verdict that found him responsible for 11 deaths among other crimes, as previously reported by CNN.
In a previously dismissed lawsuit, Bulger’s family sued prison employees in 2020, alleging they were “deliberately indifferent” to the dangers Bulger faced in prison and that it seemed Bulger was “deliberately sent to his death.”
Though a judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2022, the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General released a report in December of that year outlining a series of missteps by prison authorities that may have endangered Bulger’s safety during his prison transfer.
Bulger’s placement into the West Virginia facility’s general population after guards spoke of his impending arrival in front of inmates is highlighted in the report as one of the errors made.
The report stated that inmates' prior knowledge of Bulger’s arrival at Hazelton on October 29, 2018, significantly increased the likelihood that he faced imminent danger at the facility.
CNN's Ray Sanchez and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.
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In relation to the killing of James 'Whitey' Bulger, the US prison inmate McKinnon is also charged with making false statements about his involvement.
Following the guilty pleas of Geas, DeCologero, and McKinnon, the three individuals are expected to receive their sentencing in separate court appearances.
