Former Mafia hitman set to be sentenced for prison murder of gangster James “Whitey” Bulger

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A former mob hitman is expected to be sentenced in the prison killing of a notorious Boston gangster. James “Whitey” Bulger after reaching an agreement with prosecutors to change his plea to not guilty.

Federal prisoner Fotios “Freddy” Geas is scheduled to appear Friday in U.S. District Court in Northern West Virginia.

Prosecutors said Geas used a padlock attached to a belt to repeatedly strike Bulger, 89, in the head hours after he arrived at the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazelton, West Virginia, from another Florida prison in October 2018.

Bulger, who led Boston’s Irish-dominated mob in the 1970s and ’80s, served as an FBI informant to expose his gang’s chief rival, the bureau said. Bulger has vehemently denied ever being a government informant.

Bulger became one of the nation’s most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994. He was captured at age 81 after more than 16 years on the run and convicted in 2013 in a series of 11 murders and dozens of other gang crimes.

Geas, who authorities say was a mob hitman, is already serving a life sentence for previous violent crimes. He has been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in Bulger’s death, both of which carry sentences of up to life in prison. Last year, the Justice Department said he was would not seek the death penalty.

Court documents do not clearly specify how Geas will plead, but the court scheduled sentencing at the same plea hearing. Plea Agreements The names of Geas and two other Hazelton inmates were released on May 13, and a lawyer for Geas did not oppose the government’s motion.

Another prisoner, Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero, was sentenced to more than four years in prison in August for assault. Prosecutors said he stood watch while Geas beat Bulger. A third inmate, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June for lying to FBI special agents and was not sentenced to additional prison time.

A prisoner witness told a grand jury that DeCologero told him that Bulger was a “snitch” and that they planned to kill him as soon as he entered their unit.