The three men charged in the 2018 killing of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger reached plea deals with prosecutors, according to papers filed in court Monday.
The plea deals for Fotios "Freddy" Geas, Paul DeCologero and Sean McKinnon, come six years after the notorious 89-year-old mobster was found beaten to death in his cell at a West Virginia prison, The New York Times reported.
The details of the plea agreement were not disclosed. Prosecutors, however, motioned that the three men had agreed to "cooperate" with the government.
Geas, a onetime Mafia hitman, and DeCologero, a Massachusetts gangster, were accused of repeatedly hitting Bulger in the head. McKinnon was lookout.
DeCologero told an inmate witness that Bulger was a "snitch." DeCologero also told an inmate he and Geas used a belt with a lock attached to it to bludgeon Bulger to death, prosecutors said.
Bulger ran a crew of Irish mobsters in Boston during the 1970s and '80s. He served as an FBI informant and ratted on his gang's main rival. In 1994, he fled Boston after being tipped off by his FBI handler that he was going to be indicted. After more than 16 years on the run as one of America's most wanted fugitives, the 81-year-old mobster was captured in Santa Monica, California.
The mobster was portrayed by Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp in the biographical crime drama "Black Mass." Bulger was also the inspiration for Martin Scorsese's 2006 crime thriller "The Departed."
Bulger was killed just hours after he was transferred to USP Hazelton in West Virginia from where he was previously held in Florida. He was serving a life sentence for 11 murders and other crimes.
DeCologero was in jail for allegedly buying heroin and then trying to use it to kill a teenage girl. He was in a Massachusetts gang led by his uncle, who wanted the teen dead because he feared the girl would betray the gang. The drugs did not kill the teen, so another man broke her neck and dismembered her. She was buried in the woods, according to court records.
Geas was not an "official" member of the Mafia because he is Greek, not Italian. Along with his brother, he was sentenced to life prison in 2011 for violent crimes, including the 2003 killing of Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, a Genovese crime family boss in Springfield, Mass.
McKinnon was on federal supervised release when he was arrested for Bulger's death. He had allegedly stolen guns from a firearms dealer.
The Justice Department found that Bulger's death was a result of management failures, including over 100 officials finding out about Bulger's move in advance and a lack of formal process for deciding which unit to house inmates at the prison. The inspector found no evidence of "malicious intent" by bureau employees.
Geas and DeCologero were identified as suspects shortly after Bulger's death, but they were not charged for years due to the investigation.
All three men were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which can carry up to a life sentence.
Geas and DeCologero were charged with murder, and McKinnon was also charged with making false statements to a federal agent.
The Justice Department said last year it would not seek the death sentence for Geas and DeCologero.
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