Jack Nicholson in The Departed. Photograph courtesy of Warner Bros
Notorious Boston mob boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger has been sentenced to life in prison for crimes he committed during his murderous reign in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bulger, 84, was given two life sentences and will die in prison after being convicted in August of a number of murders as well as extortion, racketeering, and drug dealing. He has also been ordered to pay $19.5 million in compensation to the families of his victims.
Before handing down his sentence, US District Judge Denise Casper said:
“The scope, the callousness, the depravity of your crimes are almost unfathomable”
Bulger was the inspiration for Jack Nicholson’s character in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, and maintained throughout his trial that he was given immunity for his crimes by becoming an FBI informant, although the jury saw no evidence of this claim.
Before his capture in 2011, Bulger had been on the run since 1994 when he was tipped off by his handler, former FBI agent John Connolly Jr., that he was about to be arrested – a crime for which Connolly is currently serving a ten year prison sentence.
