Washington (AFP) - Three men have been indicted in connection with the 2018 killing of notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, who was beaten to death in a West Virginia prison, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Fotios "Freddy" Geas, 55, Paul "Pauly" DeCologero, 48, and Sean McKinnon, 36, were charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to commit first degree murder by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of West Virginia, according to a statement.
The three were imprisoned at Hazelton prison in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, where the 89-year-old Bulger was also serving out his life sentence for a string of brutal crimes.
"Geas and DeCologero are accused of striking Bulger in the head multiple times and causing his death in October of 2018," the statement said.
Geas and DeCologero have also been charged with aiding and abetting first degree murder, along with assault, while Geas faces a separate charge as well for murder by a federal inmate serving a life sentence.
McKinnon, who was on federal supervised release and was arrested on Thursday in Florida, was charged with making false statements to a federal agent.Geas and DeCologero were still imprisoned at the time of the indictment.
Bulger ruled the Boston underworld with an iron fist for nearly 30 years in the 1970s and '80s while also working as an informant for the FBI.
Arrested in 2011 after 16 years on the run, a 12-person federal jury later found Bulger guilty on 31 separate charges.
He was found dead a day after he was transferred to the high-security Hazelton facility to serve the remainder of two life sentences for 11 murders, racketeering, extortion, money laundering, possession of firearms and other crimes.
Bulger's life of crime has been the subject of several books and movies including "Black Mass," a biopic featuring Johnny Depp as the Irish-American mobster.
Bulger also provided the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's mob boss character in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning 2006 gangster film "The Departed."
