'Whitey' Bulger Gets Two Life Sentences for Boston Crime Wave

Bulger, 84, showed no emotion to judge's sentence.

ByABC News
November 14, 2013, 8:17 AM

BOSTON Nov. 14, 2013— -- Notorious Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger was given two life sentences plus five years in prison today by a federal judge who told the convicted killer that he committed "unfathomable acts in unfathomable ways."

"The conduct in of itself merits the most sincere penalty,'' U.S. District Court Justice Denise Casper told Bulger.

The judge said she realized that the sentence would be "cold comfort for the losses that so many have suffered," but added while speaking directly to Bulger, "You sir, do not represent this city.''

Bulger, 84, was dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and stood flanked by his attorneys Jay Carney and Hank Brennan. Casper reiterated the sentence that will almost certainly mean the 84-year-old mobster will die in a federal prison.

His hands clasped in front of him, Bulger did not utter a word or react to the judge's sentence and statement.

The judge also acknowledged the widespread corruption in the Boston FBI field office as she addressed the court.

"You did not accomplish many of your crimes yourself... You certainly had some well-placed law enforcement officials on your payroll and in your pocket," Casper said.

That payroll was well-funded, according to courtroom testimony and federal prosecutors, who said Bulger's life of crime amassed him more than $25 million. Casper ordered Bulger to pay $19.5 million in restitution.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz told reporters after Bulger's sentencing that it was unclear if that much money could be recovered from the geriatric gangster, or if investigators are looking for the storied safety deposit boxes that some of his Winter Hill Gang cronies testified were hidden across the country by Bulger.

The collusion with Bulger of some corrupt FBI agents was also addressed during emotional victim impact statements Wednesday.

David Wheeler, an Oklahoma businessman whose father was shot and killed on Bulger's orders, called the mobster a "government-sponsored assassin."

Bulger was convicted of 11 killings as well as racketeering charges, but one of the jurors, Janet Uhlar, has since been writing letters to Bulger and has had second thoughts about convicting him.

Uhlar told ABC News that she was upset later because some of the mobsters who testified against Bulger had been notorious killers and thugs.

"There were men who got outrageously reduced sentences to testify against Jim Bulger,'' Uhlar said.

While convicting Bulger of 11 murders, the jurors could not agree on several other killings that Bulger was accused of carrying out. Other jurors told ABC News that Uhlar was the lone holdout in the strangulation of Debbie Davis.

Jury foreman Terry Fife, 50, told ABC News, "Deliberations were contentious and difficult at times." When asked if Bulger got what he deserved, Fife quickly responded, "Absolutely."