Ex-Mafia Hitman Convicted of Murder of Mafia Boss Whitey Bulger

A former mob boss already serving a life sentence was given an additional 25 years in prison for the 2018 beating death of notorious Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, just hours after he was transferred to a federal prison in West Virginia.

Fotios “Freddy” Geas was sentenced Friday in federal court in northern West Virginia after pleading guilty to manslaughter and assault causing serious bodily injury.

The request was part of a deal reached in May in which prosecutors agreed to drop the charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence.

James “Whitey” Bulger in a 2011 booking photo.

Bulger was found beaten to death in his cell on October 30, 2018, at the besieged Hazelton Prison in the United States, where staff had previously complained of violence and understaffing.

Most of the inmates knew the mobster would be transferred from a Florida cell, prosecutors say, alleging a plan for Bulger’s murder was in place before he arrived at the prison.

Later investigation revealed that Geas orchestrated the murder along with two other inmates, Paul DeCologero and Sean McKinnon, who were also charged in connection with the deadly attack.

Prosecutors say McKinnon and DeCologero acted as lookouts while Geas used a belt lock to beat Bulger to death with a bat.

The attack lasted less than seven minutes in total, the Justice Department said. Bulger was 89 years old.

Bulger was the head of Boston’s predominantly Irish mob in the 1970s and 1980s, and also an FBI informant who passed along information about his rivals. In return, police ignored many of his criminal antics, despite his being linked to nearly a dozen murders.

In 1994, he fled Massachusetts after his FBI contact warned him that he was about to be indicted for his crimes. The mafioso eluded authorities for more than 16 years before he was captured outside his Santa Monica, California hideout on June 22, 2011.

In 2013, Bulger was convicted of 11 murders, along with dozens of other gangland crimes, and was sentenced to two life sentences plus an additional five years.

This is an undated FBI photo released on Wednesday, December 30, 1998, of alleged Boston mobster and fugitive James J. “Whitey” Bulger. (AP Photo/FBI, File)

Geas was a close associate of the mafia and acted as an enforcer, but he was not an official member because he is Greek and not Italian.

DeCologero was also a member of an organized crime gang in Massachusetts led by his father.

Another inmate at Hazelton testified that DeCologero called Bulger a “snitch” and said he planned to kill him upon arrival. Prosecutors said he was also heard bragging about how Geas used a lock to beat up the notorious crime boss.

In early August, DeCologero was sentenced to four more years in prison for Bugler’s murder. He was already serving a 25-year sentence after being convicted of buying heroin that was used in an attempt to murder a teenage witness in a criminal case.

McKinnon pleaded guilty in June to lying to FBI agents and was sentenced to spend 22 months in custody following his 2022 indictment. He received no additional prison time and was sent back to Florida to complete his supervised release.

With news services