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News
Release Winter Hill Gang Leader Sentenced To Life in Prison JAN 27-- Boston, MA... Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England; Colonel Thomas J. Foley, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Joseph A. Galasso, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; James Hussey, Acting Commissioner of the Boston Police Department and United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan announced today that STEPHEN J. FLEMMI, age 69, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to life imprisonment. FLEMMI pleaded guilty on October 14, 2003 to all counts in a superseding indictment charging him for his role in numerous murders as part of his leadership along with James Bulger from the early 1970s through the mid 1990s of an organized crime group that controlled extortion, drug dealing, and other rackets in South Boston and elsewhere throughout the metropolitan Boston area. In accordance with a plea agreement filed earlier with the Court, the Government recommended the maximum federal penalty possible for FLEMMI’s plea to all the federal charges against him-- life imprisonment. Also as part of the plea agreement, FLEMMI will plead guilty to state first degree murder charges in Florida and Oklahoma for the murders of John Callahan and Roger Wheeler. Specifically, FLEMMI pleaded guilty to participating in the following murders:
The superseding indictment, to which FLEMMI pleaded guilty, describes a pattern by which Bulger, FLEMMI and other members of their organization promoted and protected their criminal ventures by engaging in extensive and violent efforts to obstruct justice. These activities included not only witness tampering, corruption of law enforcement officials, and lengthy and far-flung flights from arrest and prosecution, but also murders designed to eliminate actual and potential witnesses. The murders of Richard Castucci, Brian Halloran, Michael Donahue, John Callahan, and John McIntyre are described as resulting from efforts to prevent possible cooperation and testimony against Bulger, FLEMMI and other Bulger Group members about their participation in murders and other crimes. Other victims were killed for a variety of reasons that furthered the criminal objectives of Bulger, FLEMMI and their organization. Roger Wheeler, a prominent Tulsa, Oklahoma business leader, was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa on May 27, 1981 as Bulger Group members tried to gain control of World Jai Alai, one of Wheeler's companies. FLEMMI pleaded guilty to murdering, along with Bulger, two young women, Debra Davis and Deborah Hussey, during the 1980s after determining that each posed a threat to FLEMMI and to the criminal organization. The Bulger Group murdered Michael Milano, Al Plummer, William O'Brien, James Leary, Joseph Notorangeli, and Al Notorangeli in the course of an early 1970s conspiracy whereby members of the Bulger Group sought to eliminate a rival Boston criminal group headed by Al Notorangeli. According to the superseding indictment, James O'Toole, Paul McGonagle, Edward Connors, Thomas King, and Francis “Buddy” Leonard were murdered while the Bulger Group consolidated power and eliminated rivals in the South Boston area during the 1970s. The murder of James Sousa stemmed from Sousa's involvement in a botched robbery with other Bulger Group members. Bulger and FLEMMI murdered Arthur “Bucky” Barrett after targeting him as an extortion victim and kidnapping him. The superseding indictment further describes how Bulger, FLEMMI and their underlings disposed of the remains of a number of the murder victims in order to prevent discovery of the killings. The bodies of Thomas King and Deborah Davis were buried in the vicinity of the Neponset River in Quincy. The remains of Paul McGonagle were buried in the area of Tenean Beach in Dorchester. The bodies of Arthur “Bucky” Barrett, John McIntyre, and Deborah Hussey were buried in a common grave in the vicinity of 55 Hallett Street in Dorchester, after being removed from makeshift graves in the basement of a private home in South Boston that was being offered for sale. Investigators recovered the remains of all six victims in 2000 and they were identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. FLEMMI admitted to the extensive charges relating to the involvement of Bulger, FLEMMI and their accomplices in cocaine and marijuana trafficking, extortion of drug dealers, bookmakers, loansharks, and persons engaged in business activities, extortionate debt collection, obstruction of justice, and laundering of criminal proceeds in relation to real estate and corporate deals. The money laundering charges relate to, among other properties, two longstanding organization haunts: the South Boston Liquor Mart, located at 295 Old Colony Avenue in South Boston, and the Rotary Variety Store, located at 309-325 Old Colony Avenue. FLEMMI also pleaded guilty to one count of perjury in relation to his
August 1998 pretrial hearing testimony in a related case, and with an
obstruction-of-justice count and an evidence-tampering count in relation
to a January 2000 effort to prevent the seizure of firearms, as well
as with additional counts relating to the following firearms offenses:
possession of firearms in furtherance of violent crimes; possession of
sawed-off shotguns and semi-automatic assault weapons in furtherance
of violent crimes; possession of machine guns and firearms equipped with
silencers in furtherance of violent crimes; possession of unregistered
machine guns, silencers, and sawed-off shotguns; transfer and possession
of machine guns; and possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. |
