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[Anne Elk]

From the Boston Herald (the Bulger's favorite paper):

Bulger bro pleads guilty

by J.M. Lawrence
Friday, April 11, 2003

Retired Boston Juvenile Court clerk John ``Jackie'' Bulger pleaded guilty yesterday to twice lying to a federal grand jury out of ``loyalty'' to his oldest brother, fugitive James ``Whitey'' Bulger.

He could go to prison for two years.

Bulger, 64, who spent 32 years working in the state court system, admitted to U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. that he committed perjury and obstructed law enforcement's hunt for ``Whitey'' in 1996 and in 1998.

The price of Jackie's loyalty to the Southie crime boss could be steep. Federal prosecutors said he must go to prison for his lies, while state pension officials are reviewing whether to revoke his $66,000 per year pension.

The Bulger gang's gravedigger, Kevin J. Weeks, was ready to testify that he orchestrated a phone call from ``Whitey'' to the youngest Bulger brother in the summer of 1996, prosecutors said.

Weeks stood by while ``Jackie'' spoke to ``Whitey'' at the offices of a South Boston physical therapy clinic, sources said. The notorious fugitive and FBI informant, who is now 73, first disappeared in 1995 and faces charges of 19 murders.

Almost two years after the call, ``Jackie'' Bulger told a grand jury on Jan. 22, 1998, that he never received any information that his brother was alive.

In addition to Weeks' testimony, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly told the court yesterday that the government would have called on a neighbor of ``Jackie'' Bulgers, who would have testified to passing a message from ``Whitey'' to his brother.

The government refused to identify the neighbor.

Bulger admitted to a four-count indictment and has no plea agreement. Wearing a navy blue suit, the trim, tanned Bulger told the judge he pleaded without coercion or promises of leniency.

O'Toole described the rights Bulger gave up by pleading guilty.

``You're probably familiar with jury trials,'' O'Toole said. ``Have you had experience with jury trials?''

``Yes, your honor,'' Bulger replied.

He left the courthouse without comment.

Bulger's attorney George Gormley said the retired court clerk's crimes were motivated out of devotion to his brother and to his brother's protectors.

``It's from loyalty to his brother and a sense of protectiveness to those he then thought were helping his brother,'' Gormley said.

He said he will ask the judge for a term of home confinement and several years probation at sentencing set for July 16.

The information Jackie received about ``Whitey'' would not help authorities find Bulger, according to Gormley.

``No tactical information was being shared between Jack and Jim. It was just family information - how are the nieces and nephews? Family inquiries of that nature.''

Bulger also admitted he lied to the grand jury on Nov. 26, 1996, when he denied knowing about his brother's safe deposit box in Clearwater, Fla.

Prosecutors said they would have shown the jury a check that Bulger signed to pay rent on the box earlier that year.

The three Bulger brothers - ``Jackie,'' UMass President William M.Bulger, and James ``Whitey'' - grew up together in the Old Harbor housing project in South Boston.

Jackie's guilty plea comes the day after a congressional committee voted to confer immunity on William M. Bulger, 68, to testify about ``Whitey'' and the FBI agents who protected him.

Whitey Bulger's handler, former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., is serving 10 years after his conviction on racketeering with the mob.

A spokeswoman for the state pension board said yesterday that a hearing will be scheduled after the board receives notification of Bulger's conviction.

Gormley maintained it would be wrong for state officials to pull Bulger's pension because his crimes had ``no connection whatsoever'' to his position as a court clerk.

He noted Massachusetts law provides special deference for family members against charges of aiding a fugitive. ``The lines are a lot clearer when family is not involved,'' Gormley said.