James ‘Whitey’ Bulger Killing: Ex-Mafia Hitman Sentenced to 25 Years

Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a former Mafia hitman, added 25 years to his life sentence following a guilty plea in the murder of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger.

Bulger, 89, was killed hours after he arrived at the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton in 2018. Prosecutors said Geas used a lock attached to a belt to bludgeon Bulger in the head, however, defense attorneys say Geas hit Bulger with his fist.

Bulger, the leader of a largely Irish gang in Boston during the 1970s and ’80s, was convicted in 2013 in 11 killings and dozens of other gang-related crimes. He just transferred to the prison in West Virginia from a Florida prison where he was serving a life sentence before he was beaten to death.

Geas, 57, was sentenced in a northern West Virginia federal court on Friday after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Bulger’s killing.

He received 15 years for voluntary manslaughter and 10 years for assault resulting in serious bodily injury, which he will serve consecutively with his current life sentence.

Geas’ sentence, which was recommended by prosecutors, is longer than government guidelines, but Geas did dodge more serious charges like murder, which could’ve gotten him another life sentence.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh, who handed down Geas’ sentence, said he found the final result to be “fair, reasonable and just.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Flower said the sentence recommendation was partly based on the ages of Bulger and Geas.

“Mr. Geas is not really going to have an opportunity to step outside,” Flower said. “That is where he’s going to spend the rest of his days.”

Meanwhile, defense attorney Nathan Chambers said in court on Friday that Geas disputed some witness statements that were included in a presentencing report. Chambers also said that an autopsy report showed that Bulger’s cause of death was a single blow to the left ear.

“There’s no evidence that a weapon was used, let alone a padlock,” Chambers said.

However, Flower later said the defense and prosecution previously agreed to the facts of the case, including what happened to Bulger.

The former hitman and his brother Ty Geas were both Mafia enforcers, sentenced to life in prison in 2011 in connection to violent crimes, including the 2003 murder of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, a Genovese crime family boss in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Hazelton inmate Paul J. DeCologero, a Massachusetts gangster, was also accused of repeatedly hitting Bulger in the attack, and another fellow prisoner, Sean McKinnon, was allegedly their lookout.

DeCologero and McKinnon took plea deals like Geas. DeCologero, who was already serving 25 years, got an additional four years in August after pleading guilty to an assault charge in Bulger’s murder. Meanwhile, McKinnon was sentenced to time served in June after pleading guilty to falsifying statements to federal agents.

Bulger’s killing was the result of management failures at multiple levels, widespread incompetence and flawed policies at the federal Bureau of Prisons, according to a 2022 U.S. Department of Justice report.

The Bulger family filed a lawsuit against the bureau and 30 prison system employees, but it was dismissed by a federal judge in 2022.

Meanwhile, Chambers also called the bureau’s conduct “shocking” and “egregious” in court on Friday.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.