CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — The man who allegedly served as a warden in the notorious Boston Jail murders has Gangster James “White” Bulger He will not face any additional prison time because he pleaded guilty Monday to making false statements to federal investigators.
Sean McKinnon was handcuffed and embraced by both his lawyers after U.S. District Judge Thomas Cree agreed with the prosecution’s recommendation that he should consider 22 months of post-indictment jail time.
McKinnon, along with two other inmates, Murder in 2018 Two men at a troubled West Virginia prison, Photios “Freddy” Geas and Paul J. DeColologiero, are accused of repeatedly hitting Bulger in the head within hours of him being transferred to the prison.
Three plea bargains The charges were disclosed on May 13. DeCollogero’s plea agreement and sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 1, while Geas’ plea agreement and sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 6.
McKinnon was released from Hazelton Federal Prison in 2022 after serving his sentence for stealing guns from a firearms dealer. As of August 2022, just weeks after the indictment, he was on federal probation.
McKinnon was scheduled to fly back to Florida later Monday.
“We’re very happy he’s been released,” his attorney, Katie Simono, said.
A charge of conspiracy to first-degree murder against McKinnon was dismissed.
McKinnon could have faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for making false statements.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Flower said Geas and DeCollogero stayed in Bulger’s cell for about seven minutes, during which McKinnon went to a common area of the prison and then returned. McKinnon later told FBI special agents that he “didn’t know what had happened to Mr. Bulger,” Flower said. “In fact, he did know.”
Cimino argued that McKinnon’s lies “did not harm Mr. Bulger.”
The judge asked McKinnon if any family members wanted to speak before sentencing him, but no one came forward.
According to prosecutors, DeCollogero, a Massachusetts mobster, told inmate witnesses that Bulger was an “informant” and that he planned to kill them as soon as they came into the prison. DeCollogero, a former Mafia hit man, also told inmates that he and Geas had beaten him to death with a belt containing a lock.
Geas and DeCollogero were identified as suspects soon after Bulger’s death but were not charged for years as the investigation dragged on.
Last year, the Department of Justice I don’t want the death penalty In addition to the murder charges, Geas and DeColologiero were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Bulger, who led a predominantly Irish gang in Boston in the 1970s and 1980s, was also an FBI informant, providing the bureau with information on his gang’s biggest rivals.
He became one of America’s most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994 after receiving a tip from his FBI agent that he was facing indictment. He was arrested at age 81 after more than 16 years on the run.
Bulger is Convicted in 2013 He is allegedly linked to a string of 11 murders and dozens of other gang crimes, many of which were committed while he was an FBI informant.
Bulger was killed just hours after being transferred from a Florida detention center to Hazelton Correctional Facility in West Virginia. After the killing, experts criticized his transfer to Hazelton, where officials were already raising alarm about violence and understaffing, and for placing him in the general inmate population rather than in a more protective facility.
Department of Justice Inspector General A survey will reveal this in 2022 Mr. Bulger’s murder was the result of multiple instances of mismanagement, widespread incompetence and flawed policies by the Bureau of Prisons. The inspector general found no evidence of “bad faith” by Bureau of Prisons officials, but said a series of bureaucratic failures left Mr. Bulger at the mercy of rival gangsters.
DeCollogero was convicted of buying heroin used to kill a teenage girl whose uncle, who was part of a gang led by his uncle, tried to kill her because he feared she would betray the gang to police. After the heroin didn’t kill her, another man broke her neck, dismembered her body and buried it in the woods, according to court records.
Geas acted as an enforcer and a close associate of the Mafia, but was not a proper “official” member because he was Greek, not Italian. Geas and his brother were sentenced to life in prison in 2011 for multiple violent crimes, including the murder of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, a Genovese crime family boss in Springfield, Massachusetts. Prosecutors say Bruno’s death was ordered by another Mafia boss who was upset that Bruno had spoken to the FBI.
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An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated that Geas and DeColologelo were scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Their hearings are scheduled for later this summer.
