"Whitey" Bulgar's Prosecutors
By Bill Carico
08/08/2020
"Witness Flipping" is when prosecutors persuade a criminal to testify as a prosecution witness against his/her associates, accomplices, or co-defendants. This is often done in exchange for a lesser sentence or some degree of immunity. When victims of the criminal who turns state's evidence go uncompensated, which is most of the time, they have been victimized yet again. There is no limit placed on prosecutors on what deal to cut, and certainly a prosecutor's career can be made with just one big conviction.
Perhaps one of the most shameful deals ever was made prior to the 2013 racketeering trial of a mob boss by getting his hit man to flip. The hit man confessed to 20 first-degree murders. If tried for any one of the murders he could have received the death penalty, but his deal allowed him walk free after serving a 12 year prison sentence.
The hit man was Johnny Martorano. The mob boss was James "Whitey" Bulgar. Federal prosecutors left the families of 20 murder victims with no justice, and used the testimony of Martorano to tie Bulgar to 11 killings.
The flaw with prosecutors cutting deals with criminals is they really have no way of knowing if a flipped witness is telling the truth. In this case their case relied on the integrity of a man who they believe murdered at least 20 people.
08/08/2020
"Witness Flipping" is when prosecutors persuade a criminal to testify as a prosecution witness against his/her associates, accomplices, or co-defendants. This is often done in exchange for a lesser sentence or some degree of immunity. When victims of the criminal who turns state's evidence go uncompensated, which is most of the time, they have been victimized yet again. There is no limit placed on prosecutors on what deal to cut, and certainly a prosecutor's career can be made with just one big conviction.
Perhaps one of the most shameful deals ever was made prior to the 2013 racketeering trial of a mob boss by getting his hit man to flip. The hit man confessed to 20 first-degree murders. If tried for any one of the murders he could have received the death penalty, but his deal allowed him walk free after serving a 12 year prison sentence.
The hit man was Johnny Martorano. The mob boss was James "Whitey" Bulgar. Federal prosecutors left the families of 20 murder victims with no justice, and used the testimony of Martorano to tie Bulgar to 11 killings.
The flaw with prosecutors cutting deals with criminals is they really have no way of knowing if a flipped witness is telling the truth. In this case their case relied on the integrity of a man who they believe murdered at least 20 people.
Article about a victim: To illustrate how callous judges and prosecutors can become toward victims, Steve Davis is the man interviewed in the above news clip. His sister was one Whitey Bulgar's murder victims. As fate would have it, at the same time Steve Davis was also seeking justice for the death of his daughter in a civil court litigating a completely different incident. This article provides the context for Steve Davis' dilemma. Click here to read article.
Digging Deeper
According to Wikipedia: John James Vincent Martorano (born December 13, 1940) also known as "Vincent Joseph Rancourt", "Richard Aucoin", "Nick", "The Cook", "The Executioner", "The Basin Street Butcher", is an Italian-American former gangster and former hitman for the Winter Hill Gang in Boston, Massachusetts, who has admitted to 20 mob-related killings.
According to the book "Conviction Machine - Standing up to Federal Prosecutorial Abuse" by Sidney Powell and Harvey A. Silvergate, pp 73-74, "Martarano admitted on the stand that a film company paid him $250,000 for the rights to his life story. He also received about $70,000 for his role in helping Howie Carr, a Boston Herald Columnist, turn out "Hit Man; The Untold Story of Johnny Martarano; Whitey Burglar's Enforcer, and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld." Perhaps most shocking of all, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency paid him $20,000 in "gate money" upon his release from prison."
All the people who allowed Johnny Martarano to become a free and wealthy individual, while denying justice to the familys of at least 20 victims qualifies this story to be included as part of the "Hall of Shame."
As far as Whitey Bulgar was concerned, he was convicted in the murders of 11 people while running a crime ring in the 70’s and 80’s. He was murdered in a West Virginia prison, a homicide investigation that is still open. He was 86.
Another interesting fact is that Whitey Bulgar had a younger brother, William Michael "Billy" Bulger (born 1934), who was a successful politician. There was a time when he was the longest-running president of the Massachusetts senate. In addition, he served as president of the University of Massachusetts until 2003. He was forced out of the university for not answering questions about his mob-boss brother in a congressional hearing.
What Happened to the Lead Prosecutor?
With the Bulgar conviction under his belt as his most notable conviction, Brian T. Kelly, immediately resigned his position as US Attorney to join a prominent firm, Nixon Peabody. This is from their website:
With 25+ years of experience in government investigations and white-collar defense, Brian Kelly is a nationally recognized former federal prosecutor and high-profile trial attorney. Brian has tried numerous federal cases including, most notably, U.S. v. James “Whitey” Bulger. His seasoned judgment and strategic counsel comes from decades of experience in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in both Boston and San Diego.
Brian defends corporations and executives in federal and state investigations of all sorts including health care fraud cases, False Claims Act (FCA) allegations, SEC inquiries, internal corporate investigations, insider trading charges, white-collar criminal defense, and NCAA compliance matters.
This from the Boston Globe: www.bostonglobe.com/2013/12/09/brian-kelly-federal-prosecutor-whitey-bulger-case-and-political-corruption-cases-leaves-attorney-office/DhA3BAs991nkUJhmNHYyhL/story.html
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For more information about plea bargains and how my daughter was coerced to confess, see Subverting Due Process