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A courtroom sketch of James 'Whitey' Bulger, left, and his girlfriend, Catherine Grieg during their arraignment in a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles Bill Robles/AP/Press Association Images
Crime
'Whitey' Bulger to return to Boston and face charges
The alleged crime boss was arrested on Wednesday night in Santa Monica, along with his partner Catherine Greig.
THE ALLEGED CRIME boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, who eluded capture for 16 years, has agreed to return to Boston.
Bulger is to be brought back to Massachusetts to face charges, the Boston Globe reports today.
81-year-old Bulger was arrested alongside his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, 60, at a residence in Santa Monica on Wednesday night.
According to the Boston Globe, Bulger had an ‘arsenal’ of guns and several knives in his home, while $800,000 was hidden around his apartment.
Bulger and Greig appeared in court in Los Angeles on Thursday to confirm their details and the federal charges against them.
The investigators will now have to put together the facts of what happened in the past 16 years.
The FBI launched a new media campaign on Monday, which led to a tipster contacting the organisation about Bulger’s location.
The campaign involved huge billboard posters as well as slots on daytime television shows.
They released the campaign in 14 states where Bulger had connections.
An apartment was put under surveillance and Bulger was lured out and arrested without incident.
He and Greig had been living under the aliases Charles and Carol Gasko.
It is said he gave a confession to police after his arrest.
Carmen Ortiz, the US attorney, told a press conference that Bulger will face charges including extortion, money laundering, RICO (The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) conspiracy and RICO murder.
Bulger, the son of two Irish Americans, was one of the FBI’s ‘Ten Most Wanted’ fugitives and is alleged to have been involved in 19 murders.
He led the Winter Hill Gang, which ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets in the Boston area.
During his time as a fugitive it was believed at one point that he was in Ireland, and there were sightings of Bulger reported – but not confirmed – in the United States and parts of Europe.
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