Inmate Who Killed Gangster Whitey Bulger in Prison Sentenced

An inmate was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the 2018 killing of notorious Boston gangster Whitey Bulger.

Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in bludgeoning Bulger.

DeCologero is already serving a 25-year sentence for buying heroin used to try to kill a teenage girl.

Prosecutors stated, “DeCologero and inmate Fotios “Freddy” Geas used a lock attached to a belt to repeatedly hit the 89-year-old Bulger in the head hours after he arrived at USP Hazelton.”

During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh said the sentence was “ the balance the court is trying to seek.”

Inmate gets 51 months in prison for gangster 'Whitey' Bulger's killing https://t.co/45NiaHCAWe pic.twitter.com/GAzKD7zsF8

— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) August 1, 2024

Check out what AP reported:

An inmate was sentenced to more than four years Thursday for his role in the 2018 fatal bludgeoning of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in a troubled West Virginia federal prison.

Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to an assault charge. He could have faced up to 10 years in prison. DeCologero was already serving a 25-year sentence handed down in 2006 after he was convicted of buying heroin used to try to kill a teenage girl.

Prosecutors initially had said DeCologero and inmate Fotios “Freddy” Geas used a lock attached to a belt to repeatedly hit the 89-year-old Bulger in the head hours after he arrived at USP Hazelton from another lockup in Florida. But on Thursday, both prosecutors and the defense said DeCologero only served as a lookout and had not physically assaulted Bulger.

Massachusetts gangster gets 4 years in beating death of mob boss Whitey Bulger

Paul J. DeCologero was previously sentenced in 2006 after heroin he purchased was used in an attempt to kill a teenage witness in a criminal case.https://t.co/zi0RKsuMXX

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) August 1, 2024

Here’s what CBS reported:

An inmate has been sentenced for his role in the deadly bludgeoning of infamous Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in a West Virginia federal prison in 2018. The inmate, Paul J. DeCologero, was sentenced to more than four years imprisonment after pleading guilty to an assault charge. DeCologero faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors initially had said DeCologero and inmate Fotios “Freddy” Geas used a lock attached to a belt to repeatedly hit the 89-year-old Bulger in the head hours after he arrived at troubled USP Hazelton from another lockup in Florida, while another man, Sean McKinnon, served as a lookout. But on Thursday, they said that DeCologero had only served as a lookout and had not physically assaulted Bulger.

Geas faces a hearing on Sept. 6. He has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which carries up to a life sentence. Last year the Justice Department said it would not seek the death sentence for the pair.

One of the inmates charged in the fatal prison cell beating of James (Whitey) Bulger, the organized crime boss who lorded over Boston’s underworld for decades, received an additional sentence of more than four years on Thursday for his role in the attack. https://t.co/P98ehGpU9t

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 1, 2024