The FBI Agent and the Mob Murder Trial
The criminal trial is now underway for disgraced former FBI agent John Connolly. In one of the biggest scandals to ever hit inside the FBI, federal prosecutors allege that Connolly provided exclusive information to mobsters James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, leaders of Boston’s violent Winter Hill Gang. Connolly was indicted by a federal jury for murder and conspiracy charges, and faces life in federal prison if convicted.
Crucial Testimony against Connolly
The most damaging testimony against Connolly was actually provided by many of the convicted mobsters and gangsters themselves. Kevin Weeks testified at Connolly’s trial that the FBI agent continued providing information to him even after Connolly retired from the FBI in 1990. Specifically, Weeks testified that in 1994 Connolly provided information that Bulger and Flemmi would be indicted soon and to “watch themselves.” Although Flemmi was later arrested, Bulger took heed to the warning and has been a fugitive ever since, even being named to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Ten Most Wanted List.
Some of the more damaging testimony came from Flemmi who told jurors that Connolly warned him and Bulger that fellow gangster John B. Callahan was being sought for questioning by the FBI and probably “wouldn’t hold up,” meaning it was very likely he would implicate the pair of mobsters in the 1981 murder of a Tulsa businessman. Acting on the provided information, Bulger ordered a hit on Callahan and his body was later recovered in the trunk of a Cadillac at Miami International Airport.
Connolly is already serving a 10 year federal sentence on a 2002 federal racketeering conviction for protecting Bulger and Flemmi by warning them to flee just before their indictment in 1995. Bulger, who slipped away and has evaded capture is charged with 19 murders and remains on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, with a $2 million reward being offered for his capture. Flemmi, who is now serving a life sentence for 10 murders, has agreed to cooperate fully with the federal government in hopes of gaining a sentence reduction.
The case is expected to be in the hands of the jury in the next few days.