Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime
Alcatraz warden's notebook page for James J. Bulger, Jr., No. 1428, with typed commitment details, criminal history and his identification photograph at upper right, a young man in a work shirt above a placard reading "U.S. Penitentiary Alcatraz 1428 11 16 59".
Identification photograph on the Alcatraz warden's notebook page for James J. Bulger, Jr., No. 1428, National Archives at San Francisco (NAID 236734663), Records of the Bureau of Prisons. The catalog marks the item "Use Restriction: Unrestricted."

James J. Bulger

Sentenced in 1956 for bank robbery and held at Alcatraz from 1959 to 1962; an FBI informant from 1975, a federal court found; a fugitive from late 1994 until June 2011; convicted in 2013 of racketeering, with the jury finding he played a role in eleven murders.

Born
1929-09-03
Aliases
Whitey, James J. Bulger, Jr.
Role
"the head of an organized crime syndicate in Boston from the 1970's to the 1990's" (First Circuit, 2016); "the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang" (U.S. Attorney, 2013)
Source
United States v. Bulger, 816 F.3d 137 (1st Cir. 2016)
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.

On the record

  • 3 September 1929 — Date of birth "9-3-29" on his Alcatraz inmate card (USP-AC Form 175), National Archives NAID 236734663.
  • 13 November 1959 — The same card records his receipt at Alcatraz from Atlanta as No. 1428 on a 20-year sentence for "Robbery of FDIC Bank," dated June 21, 1956, from the District of Massachusetts; the National Archives catalog records his transfer to Leavenworth on July 25, 1962.
  • 1974–1975 — FBI Boston reports in Part 01 of the Vault file name him among suspected loansharks in an extortionate-credit inquiry (OCR).
  • 1975 — United States v. Salemme, 91 F. Supp. 2d 141 (1999): Bulger "had in 1975 also become an FBI informant"; in 1976 the FBI helped forge his partnership with Flemmi.
  • Late 1994 — U.S. Attorney, August 12, 2013: "In late 1994, upon learning of his impending indictment, Bulger fled Massachusetts."
  • 22 June 2011 — U.S. Attorney, 2013: he was arrested in Santa Monica, California. The First Circuit: "Law enforcement finally caught up with Bulger in June of 2011, finding him living under an assumed identity in California."
  • 12 August 2013 — U.S. Attorney: after a two-month trial the jury convicted him of racketeering conspiracy and racketeering acts and found he played a role in eleven murders.
  • 14 November 2013 — U.S. Attorney: Judge Denise J. Casper sentenced him "to two consecutive life terms plus five years and $19.5 million in restitution."
  • 4 March 2016 — United States v. Bulger, 816 F.3d 137: the First Circuit affirmed.

The role line quotes the First Circuit’s opening description and the U.S. Attorney’s release. The 1950s bank-robbery sentence on the Alcatraz card is a separate matter from the racketeering case. The card’s photograph is used here; the card also lists co-defendants in the 1950s case, whom this page does not name.

“Whitey” is from the First Circuit and the U.S. Attorney; “James J. Bulger, Jr.” is the Alcatraz card’s form. No opened record gives his date of death.

Records

itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for James J. Bulger, Jr., No. 1428Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of James J. Bulger, Jr., received at Alcatraz from Atlanta on 13 November 1959 under a 20-year sentence for robbery of an FDIC bank. A copy is stored here.itemJames Bulger's Alcatraz inmate case file, No. 1428 (National Archives catalog entry)Catalog entry for the Alcatraz case file of register no. 1428, with 580 digitized pages. The description gives receipt from Atlanta on 13 November 1959 and transfer to Leavenworth on 25 July 1962.itemJames "Whitey" Bulger (FBI)FBI image of James "Whitey" Bulger from the FBI's Boston field-office history, captioned with his arrest on June 22, 2011 in Santa Monica, California. A copy is stored here.itemJames "Whitey" Bulger, Ten Most Wanted Fugitive #458 (FBI)Paired photographs from the FBI's Ten Most Wanted historical pictures: one labelled "Photograph Taken in 1994" and a retouched copy, over the name James J. Bulger.itemFBI Vault, James (Whitey) Bulger, Part 01: Boston reports, 1974 to 1978First part of the FBI's released Bulger file: Boston airtels and reports of 1974 and 1975 on an extortionate-credit inquiry naming Bulger among suspected loansharks, and 1976 to 1978 reports on a race-fixing investigation. Read in part from the OCR.itemFBI Vault, James (Whitey) Bulger, Part 02: Boston Division reports, 1974 to 1975The second part of the FBI's Bulger file: Boston field office reports, transmittals of recorded telephone calls and arrest papers, most captioned with the federal extortionate-credit and racketeering statutes. Most names are redacted, and only the Vault OCR has been read.itemFBI Vault, James (Whitey) Bulger, Part 05: Boston memorandum of June 23, 1995 on the January 1995 indictmentPart 05 of the FBI's Bulger file is mostly withheld. Its readable pages include a June 23, 1995 Boston communication summarizing the indictment's allegation that the "Winter Hill Gang" and the "PATRIARCA LCN Family" conspired to control organized crime in Boston.itemUnited States v. Salemme, 91 F. Supp. 2d 141 (D. Mass. 1999)Judge Wolf's memorandum of September 15, 1999 setting out, after long hearings, the FBI's relationship with informants Stephen Flemmi and James Bulger, the 1981 bugging of 98 Prince Street and the 1989 Medford recording. Reversed in part in 2000.itemUnited States v. Flemmi, 225 F.3d 78 (1st Cir. 2000)First Circuit opinion of September 11, 2000 reversing the district court's suppression order and holding that FBI agents acting on their own cannot confer use immunity on an informant.itemUnited States v. Connolly, 341 F.3d 16 (1st Cir. 2003)First Circuit opinion of August 14, 2003 affirming former FBI agent John J. Connolly, Jr.'s convictions for racketeering, obstruction and a false statement, and his 121-month sentence.itemUnited States v. Bulger, 816 F.3d 137 (1st Cir. 2016)First Circuit opinion of March 4, 2016 affirming James J. Bulger's racketeering conviction and life sentences after a three-month trial, and rejecting his claim that a prosecutor had given him immunity.itemFederal Jury Convicts James "Whitey" Bulger (U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, 2013)Press release of August 12, 2013: after a two-month trial a federal jury in Boston convicted James J. Bulger of racketeering conspiracy and racketeering acts, and found that he played a role in eleven murders.itemBulger Sentenced to Two Life Terms (U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, 2013)Press release of November 14, 2013: Judge Denise J. Casper sentenced James J. Bulger in Boston to two consecutive life terms plus five years and $19.5 million in restitution.itemGreig Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison (U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts, 2012)Press release of June 12, 2012: Catherine E. Greig, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive and identity-fraud counts, was sentenced to eight years for harboring James J. Bulger.itemDonahue v. United States, 634 F.3d 615 (1st Cir. 2011)First Circuit opinion of February 10, 2011 reversing Federal Tort Claims Act judgments for the families of two men killed on Bulger's orders, on the ground that the suits were untimely, while calling the FBI's conduct reprehensible.itemMcIntyre v. United States, 367 F.3d 38 (1st Cir. 2004)First Circuit opinion of May 10, 2004 in two Federal Tort Claims Act suits against the United States arising from the FBI's handling of informants Bulger and Flemmi. It turned on when the claims accrued.