BOSTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty against two men charged with the prison murder of notorious Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
Prosecutors said in a court filing that if Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a former mob hitman, and Paul J. DeCologero, a Massachusetts mobster, are convicted of murder in Bulger’s murder , they would not ask for the death penalty.
Geas also faced the death penalty if convicted of an additional charge of murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence. But prosecutors said they wouldn’t ask either if he was found guilty of the charge.
Geas and DeCologero were indicted last August for the 2018 murder of Bulger, who led Boston’s predominantly Irish mob in the 1970s and 1980s and served as an FBI informant who exposed his gang’s chief rival. Bulger was killed just hours after being transferred to a West Virginia prison from another Florida prison and placed in general population.
Geas and DeCologero are accused of repeatedly punching Bulger in the head while a third man, Sean McKinnon, stood watch. A detained witness told authorities that DeCologero said he and Geas used a belt with a padlock attached to beat Bulger to death.
Geas, DeCologero and McKinnon are all charged with conspiracy to commit murder, which could carry up to life in prison. McKinnon, who is separately charged with making false statements to a federal agent, was not sentenced to death. The men are due to stand trial in December 2024 in federal court in West Virginia.
Patrick Nash, an attorney for DeCologero, called it “a good move by the Justice Department.”
“We look forward to our day in court. We trust the system and trust the fairness of the system and we will put the facts to the jury,” Nash said.
Geas’ attorneys did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on Wednesday. An attorney who represented Bulger’s family also did not respond to an email.
Attorney General Merrick Garland imposed a moratorium on federal executions in 2021. But the Justice Department continued to push for the death penalty in some cases.