Opinion ID: 202112
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: 1995-1998: The Flemmi Trial

Text: 17 In 1995, Flemmi and a number of other members of both the Winter Hill Gang and La Cosa Nostra, including Francis P. Cadillac Frank Salemme, were arrested on federal racketeering charges following the obtaining of a set of indictments by the U.S. Attorney's office. Bulger was named in the indictments as well, but escaped before being arrested and fled the Boston area. At that time, the Globe reported that [n]o one has ever shown the FBI to be an active protector of Bulger — indeed, such a view is widely condemned as grossly unfair. Dick Lehr, Bulger's Flight Spares FBI Burden of Ties Being Aired, Insiders Say, Boston Globe, Mar. 5, 1995, at 24. It nevertheless suggested that Bulger's disappearance may have been convenient for the FBI, which might not have wanted a spotlight cast on its relationship with Bulger. Id. Reference to the FBI's light-handed treatment of Bulger also appeared in an August 1995 article in the Boston Herald, which reported that federal officials repeatedly have ignored allegations Bulger has been coddled as a valuable stool pigeon. Joe Heaney, Do Irish Eyes Smile on Whitey?, Boston Herald, Aug. 13, 1995, at 14. 18 Subsequent to these articles came another period of relative quiet: the prosecutions of Flemmi, Salemme and the others crept forward, and significant news bearing on the instant case did not emerge until 1997. Then, in a front-page article that ran on June 26, 1997, the Globe reported on the explosive testimony of Stephen Flemmi in connection with the prosecutions under the 1995 indictments. See Patricia Nealon, Flemmi Says He, Bulger Got FBI's OK on Crimes, Boston Globe, June 26, 1997, at A1. The article led with the following statement: Gangster turned informant Stephen J. `The Rifleman' Flemmi asserted yesterday that an FBI contact assured him and his criminal partner, James J. `Whitey' Bulger, they could continue to commit crimes — short of murder — without fear of prosecution. Just below, it continued in greater detail: 19 Flemmi, who ran the Winter Hill Gang with Bulger, described secret meetings at the Lexington home of FBI agent John Morris, who ran the bureau's organized crime squad here. At the meetings, Flemmi says, he and Bulger were all but given carte blanche to break the law. 20 Mr. Morris told Mr. Bulger and I that we could do anything we wanted so long as we didn't `clip anyone,' Flemmi's affidavit said. 21 Id. 22 That same article noted the FBI's slightly inconsistent responses to the accusation by Flemmi. On the one hand, Barry W. Mawn, then head of the Boston office of the FBI, acknowledged that the FBI would follow procedure and investigate the claim. Id. On the other, Paul E. Coffey, then head of the Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, suggested that there was nothing for an investigation to find, reportedly asserting that Flemmi and Bulger were warned periodically that they were not authorized to commit any crimes without specific permission — something Coffey said they never received. Id. In December 1997, an article buried deep in the Boston Herald reported that Connolly and Morris had been cleared of any wrongdoing in an internal Justice Department probe. See Ralph Ranalli, Justice Dept. Clears Ex-FBI Agents in Mob Case, Boston Herald, Dec. 5, 1997, at 24. 23 On January 7, 1998, the Herald reported in an inside story that Winter Hill wise-guy and FBI informant Stephen `The Rifleman' Flemmi said he was rewarded for his work for the agency with a free pass on murder, attempted murder and fugitive charges in the mid-1970s, defense lawyers alleged yesterday. Ralph Ranalli, Mobster: I Had a License to Kill; Flemmi Says FBI Knew He Was Murderer, Boston Herald, Jan. 7, 1998, at 6. A metro section piece in the Boston Globe on January 9, 1998 detailed the FBI's reluctance to assist the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in an investigation of cocaine trafficking by Bulger and Flemmi. Patricia Nealon, FBI Loyalty to Mob Duo is Detailed; DEA, Others Kept in Dark About Bulger, Flemmi Ties, Boston Globe, Jan. 9, 1998, at B1. Five days later, another article tucked inside in the Herald noted again that Flemmi had asserted that the FBI gave him immunity in exchange for useful information. See David Weber, Flemmi's Lawyer Contends Fed Let His Crimes Slide, Boston Herald, Jan. 14, 1998, at 10.