Lifetime Mafia hitman gets 25 extra years for brutal murder of informant ‘Whitey’ Bulger in prison

A Mafia hitman already serving a life sentence for murder was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday for the killing of James “Whitey” Bulger.

Genovese crime family ties Fox “Freddie” Geas admitted to the brutal murder of James “Whitey” Bulger, a longtime FBI informant. Prosecutors said Geas used a belt buckle to beat Bulger to death, though Geas claims he used his fists.

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Bulger, a onetime leader of Boston’s Irish mob, was 89, wheelchair-bound and in poor health when he was attacked just hours after being transported to USP Hazelton in West Virginia in October 2018. His eyes were nearly gouged out and his tongue nearly severed.

The violent end reflected Bulger’s violent life. As boss of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang, Bulger controlled gambling, extortion, loan sharking, truck hijackings and gun trafficking in eastern Massachusetts from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. In 2013, he was convicted of 11 murders.

Bulger’s dual identity as a criminal and FBI informant allowed him to eliminate many competitors while operating with near impunity. His cooperation with the feds earned him numerous enemies.

Geas, known as a renowned enforcer for the Genovese crime family from Springfield, Massachusetts, was unable to become a made man because of his Greek ethnicity. Geas often worked with his brother, Ty Geas. The Genovese family is allied with the Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England Mafia, which was significantly weakened by Bulger’s FBI cooperation.

Geas has been in prison since 2011 after being convicted of multiple crimes, including the 2003 murder of crime boss Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno. He was initially charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with Bulger’s death, but eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault causing serious bodily injury. His new sentence will run concurrently with his existing life sentence.

Fellow inmate Paul J. DeCologero, who served as a lookout during the attack, was sentenced in August to more than four years in prison for assault. A third inmate, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June to lying to the FBI about the incident and received no additional prison time.

Bulger went on the run in 1994 when his FBI contact, John Connolly, tipped him off that a federal case was being built against him. The gangster remained on the run for the next 16 years, until agents were able to track him down to a Santa Monica apartment where he was living quietly with his partner, Catherine Greig. In November 2023, Bulger was sentenced to two life terms for murder racketeering.