Former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger, who was captured in Santa Monica in 2011, was sentenced to two life sentences plus five years on Thursday morning.
The sentence was read at Boston’s waterfront federal courthouse, which comes after Bulger was found guilty on 31 of the 32 counts on Aug. 12 in connection to nearly a dozen murders.
The only count Bulger was not found guilty of was on the alleged extortion of ticket broker Kevin Hayes who had said he was warned in 1994 that he had to give “payoffs” to Bulger in order to operate.
The jury, made up of eight men and four women, found Bulger was guilty of involvement in 11 of 19 murders. Of the other eight murders, there was not enough evidence to prove he was involved in seven and the jury made no finding in one.
He was also convicted of racketeering, narcotics, and money laundering.
In July and August this year, the jury heard seven weeks of testimony about murder, extortion, drug trafficking, loansharking, bookmaking, and other gangster crimes.
The jury deliberated for more than 32 hours over five days.
Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine Greig were arrested at their residence in the 1000 block of Third Street in Santa Monica on June 22, 2011 with a stash of about 30 firearms and $822,000 in cash hidden in holes in the wall of their apartment.
Bulger had been on the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitive list for more than 15 years.
He fled Boston in the mid-1990s as FBI agents were about to arrest him in connection to his role in nearly two dozen murders committed from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s.
Bulger’s role in these murders is also tied to his leadership of an organized crime group that allegedly controlled extortion, drug deals, and other illegal activities in the Boston area.
Greig, 61, pleaded guilty in March to charges of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud, and conspiracy to commit identity fraud. She was sentenced in June to eight years in federal prison.
