Change in Whitey Bulger's Medical Classification Led to Prison Transfer, #Conspiracy Grows

Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger’s medical classification was suddenly and inexplicably changed to suggest his health had improved, leading to his transfer to the West Virginia prison where he was murdered last week, US Bureau of Prisons records show.

Two organized crime figures from Massachusetts suspected of killing Bulger have been placed in isolation at the US Penitentiary Hazelton while federal investigators work to build a case against them. But investigators are also trying to figure out why Bulger, a frail 89-year-old who used a wheelchair, was transferred from the US Penitentiary Coleman II in Florida to a prison where he had access to more limited medical care despite his advancing age and declining health.

A Bureau of Prisons official who is familiar with Bulger’s treatment said the Florida prison considered Bulger a nuisance and wanted to transfer him.

“They lowered his care level to get rid of him,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the case.

That official said he did not believe the intent was to get Bulger killed. But he acknowledged that sending Bulger to Hazelton and immediately placing him in the general population was negligent and amounted to “a death penalty.”

Sandy Parr, who works at a federal medical facility and is president of a union representing federal prison workers, said the Bureau of Prisons regularly changes medical classifications “even though they shouldn’t” to move troublesome inmates.

Prison records reviewed by the Globe show that prison authorities deemed Bulger’s medical treatment was complete. But, Parr said, “no one with his [medical] history would ever have medical care completed.”

A Bureau of Prisons spokesman on Tuesday declined to answer questions about why Bulger’s medical classification was changed, saying, “We are not releasing any information due to the ongoing investigation.” But beyond Bulger’s classification being changed to allow his transfer to Hazelton, questions remain about why officials at Hazelton allowed Bulger to be placed in the prison’s general population, which included several organized crime figures from Massachusetts who would have been familiar with Bulger and might pose a danger to him.

As the Boston Globe reported last week, two of those figures, Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a Mafia hit man from West Springfield serving life for two gangland murders, and Paul J. DeCologero, who was part of a Mafia-aligned group who murdered and dismembered a 19-year-old Medford woman, are now suspects in Bulger’s murder.

When Bulger was sentenced to life in prison in 2013 for 11 murders, he had already suffered several heart attacks and was sent to “medical care Level 3” prisons, first in Arizona, then in Florida, that offered specialized care for “fragile” inmates who require frequent treatment.

In April, Bulger could no longer walk when authorities at the Florida prison sought permission to transfer him to a federal medical center that provided round-the-clock care, according to prison records reviewed by the Globe.

After that request was denied, authorities renewed their request to transfer Bulger in October -- only this time they claimed that his health had dramatically improved, the records show. He was reclassified as a Level 2 inmate with minimal medical needs, making him eligible for his transfer to Hazelton, a Level 2 medical care prison, where he was beaten to death by fellow inmates hours after his arrival.

During his last eight months at the Florida prison, Bulger had been held in the Special Housing Unit, or solitary confinement, after he threatened a prison staffer, records show. The prison official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Bulger told a female nurse, “Your day of reckoning is coming.”

According to the records, Bulger was originally given 30 days in solitary for the infraction in February, but that confinement was extended three more times, stretching out over eight months.

Parr, the union official, said she didn’t understand why Bulger was transferred for making a single threatening remark. “We don’t transfer inmates because of that. It’s common,” she said. “If there was an actual physical assault, we might do something. But for one verbal threat, and eight months in SHU, that doesn’t make sense.”

By his own account in letters sent from prison, Bulger despised being in isolation. Joe Rojas, president of Local 506, which represents prison workers at Coleman, said Bulger didn’t have any problem with fellow inmates while in general population at USP Coleman II.

Rojas said Bulger was assigned to the so-called “dropout unit,” made up of former gang members, informants, and other inmates who might face threats.

Bulger had “his own bodyguards,” Rojas said, and “some of the younger inmates would bring him his lunch and dinner.”

In a 2016 report, the District of Columbia Corrections Information Council found that Hazelton was overcrowded, understaffed, and employed a single physician, “which is not adequate to care for the medical needs of all inmates, especially those who require chronic care.”

The Bureau of Prisons uses a software system called Central Inmate Monitoring to warn prison officials if an inmate might be in danger from another prisoner, information that is crucial when inmates are initially placed or later transferred. In Bulger’s case, he fell under the system’s category of “broad publicity,” which the Bureau of Prisons lists as “inmates who have received widespread publicity as a result of their criminal activity or notoriety as public figures.” Bulger having been publicly identified as an FBI informant also placed him squarely in the CIM system, according to a Bureau of Prisons program statement on CIM.

What remains unclear, because the Bureau of Prisons refuses to comment, is whether CIM system protocols were followed in Bulger’s case. Bulger was found dead in his cell within 14 hours of his arrival at Hazelton on the night of Oct. 29.

Several law enforcement officials say they can’t understand why Bulger wasn’t initially placed in isolation at Hazelton until officials there could determine whether he would be safe in general population. Bulger’s lawyer, J.W. Carney Jr., said placing Bulger in the general population in Hazelton amounted to a “death penalty.”

Thanks to Shelley Murphy and Kevin Cullen.

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6 Reputed Chad Brown Gangsters Charged with Running Organized Crime Enterprise #RICO

Six alleged Chad Brown gang members and associates are facing federal charges that they ran a criminal enterprise by engaging in drive-by shootings, drug trafficking and federal firearms offenses — all intended, authorities say, to protect their territory from rivals and preserve their reputation on the streets.

A federal grand jury last week indicted the six men, ages 22 to 30, for violating the Racketeer Influenced Criminal Organization (RICO) Act, a federal law created to combat organized crime and public corruption in the United States that is now being used in an effort to dismantle street gangs. The last time is was aimed at a street gang in Rhode Island was in the mid-1990s during the prosecution of the murderous Latin Kings.

Four of those indicted are alleged to have participated in drive-by shootings that came in retaliation for the shootings and murders of Chad Brown gang members and associates by East Side rivals, according to authorities.

“These groups have been going at it a very long time,” U.S. Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch said at a news conference announcing the indictments.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives linked one gun owned by the men and shared among the gang members to six shootings, Dambruch said. Three of the shootings charged in the indictment involved that gun, a .40 caliber Beretta, authorities said.

Kenneth Kwak, assistant special agent in charge of the ATF’s Boston field office, said investigators began focusing in when a pattern emerged indicating a “group or small group” of people was responsible for the shootings.

“That’s when the partnership really began,” Kwak said, referring to the joint investigation by federal and state prosecutors, the ATF and the Providence police. “They are the most violent we’ve seen ... and that’s why we targeted them,” Kwak said. The idea is to put as many resources as possible to taking down “the worst of the worst — trigger-pullers,” he said.

“It really takes out key players from Chad,” Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Paré said. He described those charges as very active, upper-ranking Chad Brown members.

The conflict began heating up in June 2013, with the shooting death of Chad Brown member José Sanchez, whose murder remains unsolved, according to the indictment. Sanchez’s family said at the time of his shooting that he was not involved in gangs.

Those facing charges and now in custody include:

• Delacey Andrade, 24, of North Providence, is charged with violating RICO; four counts of committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering; two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm; three counts of using a firearm to commit a federal crime of violence; and distribution of cocaine. Andrade is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions after admitting to gun and drug charges in state court.
• Keishon Johnson, 29, of Providence, is charged with violating RICO; three counts of committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering; three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime; possession with intent to distribute marijuana; and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He is being held at the ACI for violating the terms of his probation after being charged in April with firearms and drug offenses.
• Montrel Johnson, 22, of Providence, is charged with violating RICO; two counts of committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering; use of a firearm to commit a federal crime of violence; four counts of obstruction for allegedly refusing to testify before a grand jury, despite being ordered by the judge; and criminal contempt of court.
• Marcel Jones, 30, of West Warwick, is charged with committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering; being a felon in possession of a firearm; and use of a firearm to commit a federal crime of violence.
• Kendrick Johnson, 27, of North Providence, is charged with violating RICO; committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering; being a felon in possession of a firearm; use of a firearm to commit a federal crime of violence; and six counts of distribution of cocaine.
• Christopher Britto, 25, of Warwick, is charged with committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering and use of a firearm to commit a federal crime of violence.

Britto, Kendrick Johnson and Montrel Johnson are in federal custody. Kendrick and Keishon Johnson are brothers, while Montrel is a cousin, according to police.

“The case is in its infancy. I’ll wait to see what discovery the government produces,” Kendrick Johnson’s lawyer, Gary Pelletier, said.

Asked why the investigation targeted the Chad Brown gang instead of East Side rival gangs, Dambruch said, “This is just getting started. This is not the end of the story.”

Providence Police Detectives Theodore Michael, Jonathan Primiano and Timothy McGann assisted in the investigation along with Assistant Attorney General James Baum and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gerard Sullivan and Sandra Hebert.

Thanks to Katie Mulvaney.

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James #WhiteyBulger Killed in Federal Prison

James "Whitey" Bulger, who lived a double life as one of Boston's most notorious mobsters and as a secret FBI informant, was killed after being transferred to a federal prison in West Virginia, the Boston Globe reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed officials. Bulger was 89 and serving a sentence of life in prison, and had recently been transferred to the high-security Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia, according to NBC News, which also reported the death but did not specify the cause.

Henry Brennan, a defense lawyer for Bulger, said in an email he could not confirm or deny the reports.

Officials at the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bulger was convicted in August 2013 of 11 murders, among other charges including racketeering, and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus five years.

Prison had been something Bulger had gone to great lengths to avoid - killing potential witnesses, cultivating corrupt lawmen and living as a fugitive for 16 years. It all ended when a tip from a former Icelandic beauty queen led to his capture in June 2011 in Santa Monica, California, where he was living with a long-time girlfriend.

Bulger and his Winter Hill gang had operated for more than two decades in the insular Irish-dominated South Boston neighborhood, engaging in loan sharking, gambling, extortion, drug dealing and murder. They did so with the tacit approval of an FBI agent who looked the other way when it came to Bulger's crimes so that he would supply information on other gangsters.

Bulger, portrayed by Johnny Depp in a 2015 film "Black Mass," was feared for his short temper and brutality. Prosecutors said he strangled two women with his hands and tortured a man for hours before shooting him in the head with a machine gun.

"We took what we wanted," Kevin Weeks, a former Bulger lieutenant who would eventually testify against him, wrote in his memoir, "Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob." "We made millions through extortion and loansharking and protection. And if someone ratted us out, we killed him. We were not nice guys."

Bulger was born Sept. 3, 1929, and grew up in South Boston. He was called "Whitey" because of his light blond hair but was said to detest the nickname and preferred being called Jimmy. As a teenager he joined a gang known as The Shamrocks, compiled an arrest record for assault and armed robbery and ended up in a juvenile reformatory.

Bulger was in prison from 1956 to 1965 for robbing banks and upon his release he fell in with the Irish mob in South Boston. He worked his way through the ranks as a bookie and loanshark, survived a gang war between two Irish mobs and was a leading figure in Boston's underworld by the early 1970s.

His career was boosted by his relationship with rogue FBI agent John J. Connolly, who Bulger had known since they were boys. Connolly was supposed to be in charge of getting information out of him and Bulger did provide information that helped the FBI go after his main rival, New England's Italian Mafia, as well as local criminals.

In return, Connolly let Bulger know about working investigations while Bulger and close associate Steve "The Rifleman" Flemmi carried on with impunity. After he retired from the FBI, Connolly tipped off Bulger about a coming indictment, sending the mobster on the run in 1995.

Connolly was convicted in 2008 of racketeering, taking bribes and second-degree murder for his role in the slaying of an accountant who Bulger and Flemmi feared would testify against them.

Bulger's former associates turned on him while he was at large and their information led to a 2000 indictment that originally charged him with 19 murders.

"The guy is a sociopathic killer," Tom Foley, who worked on Bulger cases for the Massachusetts State Police, told CNN. "He loved that type of life. He's one of the hardest and cruelest individuals that operated in the Boston area. He's a bad, bad, bad guy."

When Bulger fled, he first took Teresa Stanley, his girlfriend of 30 years, with him. After a few weeks at large, however, Stanley wanted to go home so Bulger dropped her off in the Boston area. He picked up another of his girlfriends, Catherine Greig, and disappeared again.

Bulger spent his final years of freedom in No. 303 of the Princess Eugenia apartment complex in Santa Monica with Greig.

One of their neighbors, Anna Bjornsdottir, a former U.S. television actress and Miss Iceland of 1974, earned a $2 million reward for turning in Bulger. She was watching a television news report about the Bulger manhunt when she recognized the man she knew by the name Charlie Gasko and notified the FBI.

At first he denied his identity but eventually told authorities, "You know who I am. I'm Whitey Bulger." More than $800,000 in cash and a cache of weapons was found hidden in the walls of his apartment.

Greig was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined $150,000 for helping Bulger evade capture. She is scheduled for release in September 2020.

Bulger's two-month trial for murder, extortion and drug dealing in 2013 was sometimes raucous. A parade of former associates testified against him, giving brutal details about how Bulger would kill enemies and then take a nap.

Sometimes Bulger sat silently at the defendant's table and at other times he engaged in profane shouting matches with witnesses such as Flemmi.

Bulger, who denied ever being an FBI informant, refused to testify on the grounds that the trial was a sham.

The U.S. Justice Department paid more than $20 million in damages to families of people killed by Bulger on the grounds that he was operating under government supervision while killing.

While Bulger was robbing banks and killing people, his younger brother Billy was acquiring political notoriety and power.

Billy served in the Massachusetts legislature for 35 years, including several years as president of the Senate, and then was president of the University of Massachusetts. He was forced to resign the latter job in 2003 after it was learned that eight years earlier he had spoken by phone with Whitey, who was a fugitive at the time, and did not report it to authorities.

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Reputed Mob Loan Shark Whacked

A 77-year-old loan shark with ties to organized crime was found dead in his Brooklyn home with a gunshot wound to the back of the head in an apparent mob-style execution, police sources said Saturday.

The body of Vincent Zito was found inside his three-story Emmons Ave. home near Batchelder St. in Sheepshead Bay about 3:15 p.m. Friday. His school-age grandson, who lives at the address with Zito and Zito’s son, Joseph, made the grisly discovery after he came home from school.

A pistol was recovered from the scene.

Initially, it was believed Zito may have taken his own life, but with the entry wound at the back of the head, that appeared less likely, sources with knowledge of the case said. Cops are awaiting the results of an autopsy before declaring Zito’s death a homicide.

Howard Stewart, 43, a handy-man who’s been renovating Zito’s basement, said Zito’s son told him the elderly man was shot twice in the head. “One shot kill him on the spot. Understand? Two shot to the head? Man. It’s a setup,” Stewart said. “I worked in police in Jamaica all my life. It’s a setup.”

Stewart said Zito, whom he affectionately called “Pop,” was retired and “never works.”

“Vinny is my best, best friend,” Stewart said. “When my father died, I didn’t cry like that. He’s like my father. He give me a job. He give me money in my pocket. He give me food on the table, a roof over my head. Who else would do that?

“I’m the black son he never had… he’s my Pop,” Stewart said. “I need the cops to find this person as soon as possible. This person is not supposed to be on the street. I don’t worry for myself. I’m worried for what they did to Pop. That’s all wrong.”

Stewart said he hoped video cameras focused on the back door of the home could help reveal the shooter.

According to police sources, Zito was arrested for loan sharking in the past and has been linked to the Luchese crime family. His older brother, Anthony, 82, also has ties to the Lucheses and was jailed in 1971 for extortion. There was no immediate reaction from the elder Zito.

Some neighbors described Vincent Zito as a “schemer” who once sold a resident a gallon of gas for $100 after Superstorm Sandy hit Sheepshead Bay. “I think he was like (a snake),” said one neighbor who didn’t want to be identified. “He was … not good.”

Thanks to Catherine Gioino and Thomas Tracy.

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Director of the @FBI, Christopher Wray, Press Conference Comments on #MAGABomber Cesar Sayoc

FBI Director Christopher Wray delivered the following remarks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

As the attorney general has confirmed, we have arrested Cesar Sayoc in connection with this investigation. As our investigation is still ongoing, I may not be able to answer questions about his background or about his motive.
What I can say is that this was a nationwide investigation of enormous scope and of the greatest importance. Our investigation ranged from New York to Delaware to Maryland to the District of Columbia to Florida to California. As it always does, the FBI responded to this threat with every resource we’ve got, including our Joint Terrorism Task Forces, our Counterterrorism Division, and our world-renowned experts at the FBI Lab in Quantico.
But—and I really can’t underscore this enough—we didn’t act alone, as you can see from the agencies and departments represented here today. A threat of this scope and of this magnitude requires all of us working shoulder to shoulder. And today’s arrest is a testament to the strength of our partnerships and what we can do when we all work together.
I want to acknowledge the many partners who helped in recovering and transporting these IEDs to our lab in Quantico. This is dangerous and highly specialized work that requires great care, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who helped us in getting those to our lab from around the country.
We can confirm that 13 IEDs were sent to various individuals across the country. Each device consisted of roughly six inches of PVC pipe, a small clock, a battery, some wiring, and what is known as “energetic material,” which is essentially potential explosives and material that gives off heat and energy through a reaction to heat, shock, or friction. Though we’re still analyzing the devices in our Laboratory, these are not hoax devices.
I want to focus for a moment on the amazing work of the folks at our FBI Lab. Based on their initial analysis, they uncovered a latent fingerprint from one of the envelopes containing an IED that had been sent to Congresswoman Maxine Waters. We have confirmed this fingerprint is that of Cesar Sayoc. There is also a possible DNA connection between samples collected from pieces of two different IEDs, mailed in separate envelopes, and a sample previously collected from Sayoc in connection with an earlier arrest in Florida.
This is phenomenal work, with the greatest pressure, under an incredibly tight time frame. We see unbelievable work like this on TV shows and in Hollywood, but to see it up close, in reality, is something to behold, and we’re so proud of our team at the Lab for their work in keeping people safe and helping us to find the individual responsible.
Late last night, we also turned to our partners in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for confirmation of this DNA connection, and we want to thank them in particular for their very quick work. I also want to thank the men and women of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, who remain on high alert every single day to keep the American people safe from harm, and who move quickly and efficiently into action every single time.
Today’s arrest does not mean we’re out of the woods. There may be other packages in transit now—other packages on the way. So we need the help of everyone out there—every citizen, every law enforcement partner, everyone we’ve got—to help with this investigation in the days to come.
If you’ve got any information, please call us on our hotline at 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov. No piece of information is too small; every tip could be the one that leads to something very important. And of course, if you see any suspicious activity, please call your local authorities. We need all hands on deck. We need to stay vigilant.
Finally, I want to thank our partners—too many to name across the country—because we cannot do this work alone. Everyone here today understands that, and we take that to heart, every single day, as we do the hard work, together, of protecting 325 million Americans. Now I’d like to turn the podium over to Commissioner O’Neill of the NYPD.

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