William "Billie" Bokun
A defendant in the 1987 Westies racketeering indictment, convicted in 1988 of racketeering and a cocaine conspiracy; the jury found the 1985 murder of Michael Holly proven as a predicate act. His thirty-five-year sentence was reinstated by the Second Circuit in 1995.
- Aliases
- Billie Bokun, William Bokum (caption of the 1988 opinion)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal court opinions state. They are works of the United States judiciary, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. No home, family or medical detail is recorded here.
On the record
- 1987-09-17 — United States v. Bokun (1995): Bokun and nine codefendants "were indicted in the Southern District for various crimes committed as members of the Westies." The charge as the court summarizes it.
- 1988-02-24 — United States v. Bokun: a jury convicted him of participating and conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise and of conspiring to distribute cocaine. Of the three predicate acts charged against him, the jury found the Holly murder and the cocaine conspiracy proven and the Leone murder not proven.
- 1988-05-11 — United States v. Bokun: Judge Whitman Knapp sentenced him to fifty years, later reduced to thirty-five; in December 1994 the district court cut the term to twenty-five under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.
- 1995-12-27 — United States v. Bokun, 73 F.3d 8: the Second Circuit holds that § 2255 gave no power to make that reduction and reinstates the thirty-five-year sentence.
- 1997-11-24 — Shannon v. Artuz: Judge Knapp records that tape-recorded conversations were found in which Bokun acknowledged shooting Holly, which led to state charges against Bokun and Shannon.
The facts above are the federal courts’ statements. “Members of the Westies” is the indictment’s charge as the 1995 opinion summarizes it, so no role is set on this page. The opinions mention Bokun’s family in their account of the Holly killing; that is not repeated here.
Records
itemUnited States v. Bokun, 73 F.3d 8 (2d Cir. 1995): the sentence of a Westies defendantSecond Circuit opinion of December 27, 1995 reversing a reduction of William Bokun's sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 and reinstating his thirty-five-year term. Its background summarizes the Westies prosecution and the sentences imposed in 1988.itemShannon v. Artuz, 984 F. Supp. 807 (S.D.N.Y. 1997): habeas petition from a state murder convictionJudge Whitman Knapp's opinion of November 24, 1997 denying Kenneth Shannon's federal habeas petition against his 1989 state conviction for helping Billie Bokun in the 1985 shooting of Michael Holly.itemUnited States v. Coonan, 839 F.2d 886 (2d Cir. 1988): mandamus petition during the Westies trialSecond Circuit opinion of February 11, 1988 giving its reasons for denying the Government's mandamus petition against Judge Knapp's proposed jury charge. It describes the indictment, filed September 17, 1987, against ten defendants alleged to be members of "the Westies."itemUnited States v. Coonan, 938 F.2d 1553 (2d Cir. 1991): the appeal of Kevin KellySecond Circuit opinion of July 16, 1991 affirming Kevin Kelly's racketeering and related convictions. Its background recites the trial evidence about the "Westies," a group the court places in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan.