Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 6, 2006 18:20:11 GMT -5
Family of man killed by Bulger awarded $3 million
In Boston, a federal judge awarded $3.1 million yesterday to the family of
a man who was killed by fugitive mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, ruling
that the federal government is liable for the man's death because a former
FBI agent leaked his identity to Bulger.
The family of John McIntyre, 32, a fisherman from Quincy, sued the federal
government for $50 million.
They alleged McIntyre was killed by Bulger in 1984 after former FBI Agent
John Connolly Jr. tipped him that McIntyre had talked to U.S. Customs
agents in an investigation of Bulger and his cohort Stephen "The Rifleman"
Flemmi's involvement in a failed plan to send guns to the Irish Republican
Army aboard a Gloucester fishing boat.
Connolly, who has not been charged criminally in McIntyre's killing, was
convicted of warning Bulger to flee on the eve of his 1995 racketeering
indictment. He is now serving a 10-year sentence and is currently awaiting
trial in Florida in connection with the 1982 slaying of Miami gambling
executive John Callahan.
In June, Flemmi testified that McIntyre was killed after Connolly told
them 1 of the 2 people aboard the fishing boat was cooperating with
authorities.
In a 110-page ruling yesterday, U.S. District Judge Reginald Lindsay found
that Connolly was the "proximate cause" of McIntyre's death and the
federal government should be held responsible.
"I find that the United States is liable to the plaintiffs, because
Connolly, acting within the scope of his employment, disclosed information
to Bulger and Flemmi sufficient for them to identify McIntyre as a
government informant, and McIntyre's death was a forseeable consequence of
that disclosure," Lindsay wrote.
Flemmi testified that McIntyre was lured to a party on Nov. 30, 1984, then
chained to a chair, interrogated, strangled and shot in the head by
Bulger.
During the trial, an attorney for the Department of Justice said the FBI
had no way of stopping Bulger and Flemmi, leaders of the notorious Winter
Hill Gang, from committing crimes. Both men were also FBI informants who
gave agents information about the Italian Mafia, the Bulger gang's main
rival for criminal rackets in the Boston area, including gambling, drugs
and loan-sharking.
The government also said that U.S. Customs agents offered to put McIntyre
in the witness protection program, but he declined.
Flemmi is serving a life sentence for 10 killings as part of a plea deal
that spared him the death penalty.
Bulger is wanted in 19 murders and is on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list.
Jeffrey Denner, an attorney who represented McIntyre's mother, Emily, and
brother, Christopher, in the lawsuit, said the ruling is significant
because it is the 1st time a judge has found that the government is liable
in the death of someone killed by the Bulger gang.
A total of 17 federal lawsuits have been filed against the government by
alleged Bulger victims. Ten of those lawsuits have been dismissed because
they were filed too late. The McIntyre case was the first one to make it
to trial.
"I think what is being said here by the judge is that Flemmi, Bulger, the
government and the FBI are culpable for the suffering and death of John
McIntyre," Denner said.
Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the Boston office of the FBI,
declined comment on the ruling.
"We are reviewing the decision and considering our options," said Gina
Talamona, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department in Washington.
In his ruling, Judge Lindsay found that Connolly was motivated to leak
McIntyre's identity "in part by greed and his friendship with Flemmi and
especially Bulger." He cited testimony from Flemmi, who said he and Bulger
gave Connolly more than $200,000 in cash and gifts from 1981 through 1990.
Attorney William Christie, another attorney for the McIntyre family, said
McIntyre's mother was gratified by the ruling.
"Emily McIntyre kept the flame alive for 20 years in many ways," Christie
said.
"They raised every legal defense throughout the case and continued to deny
responsibility throughout the trial ... Judge Lindsay's order sends a
clear message that individuals can seek redress for wrongs by the
government and obtain justice," he said.
The judge awarded $3 million as compensation for John McIntyre's conscious
suffering and $100,000 as damages for loss of consortium for Emily
McIntyre.
(source: Milford Daily News)
In Boston, a federal judge awarded $3.1 million yesterday to the family of
a man who was killed by fugitive mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, ruling
that the federal government is liable for the man's death because a former
FBI agent leaked his identity to Bulger.
The family of John McIntyre, 32, a fisherman from Quincy, sued the federal
government for $50 million.
They alleged McIntyre was killed by Bulger in 1984 after former FBI Agent
John Connolly Jr. tipped him that McIntyre had talked to U.S. Customs
agents in an investigation of Bulger and his cohort Stephen "The Rifleman"
Flemmi's involvement in a failed plan to send guns to the Irish Republican
Army aboard a Gloucester fishing boat.
Connolly, who has not been charged criminally in McIntyre's killing, was
convicted of warning Bulger to flee on the eve of his 1995 racketeering
indictment. He is now serving a 10-year sentence and is currently awaiting
trial in Florida in connection with the 1982 slaying of Miami gambling
executive John Callahan.
In June, Flemmi testified that McIntyre was killed after Connolly told
them 1 of the 2 people aboard the fishing boat was cooperating with
authorities.
In a 110-page ruling yesterday, U.S. District Judge Reginald Lindsay found
that Connolly was the "proximate cause" of McIntyre's death and the
federal government should be held responsible.
"I find that the United States is liable to the plaintiffs, because
Connolly, acting within the scope of his employment, disclosed information
to Bulger and Flemmi sufficient for them to identify McIntyre as a
government informant, and McIntyre's death was a forseeable consequence of
that disclosure," Lindsay wrote.
Flemmi testified that McIntyre was lured to a party on Nov. 30, 1984, then
chained to a chair, interrogated, strangled and shot in the head by
Bulger.
During the trial, an attorney for the Department of Justice said the FBI
had no way of stopping Bulger and Flemmi, leaders of the notorious Winter
Hill Gang, from committing crimes. Both men were also FBI informants who
gave agents information about the Italian Mafia, the Bulger gang's main
rival for criminal rackets in the Boston area, including gambling, drugs
and loan-sharking.
The government also said that U.S. Customs agents offered to put McIntyre
in the witness protection program, but he declined.
Flemmi is serving a life sentence for 10 killings as part of a plea deal
that spared him the death penalty.
Bulger is wanted in 19 murders and is on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list.
Jeffrey Denner, an attorney who represented McIntyre's mother, Emily, and
brother, Christopher, in the lawsuit, said the ruling is significant
because it is the 1st time a judge has found that the government is liable
in the death of someone killed by the Bulger gang.
A total of 17 federal lawsuits have been filed against the government by
alleged Bulger victims. Ten of those lawsuits have been dismissed because
they were filed too late. The McIntyre case was the first one to make it
to trial.
"I think what is being said here by the judge is that Flemmi, Bulger, the
government and the FBI are culpable for the suffering and death of John
McIntyre," Denner said.
Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the Boston office of the FBI,
declined comment on the ruling.
"We are reviewing the decision and considering our options," said Gina
Talamona, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department in Washington.
In his ruling, Judge Lindsay found that Connolly was motivated to leak
McIntyre's identity "in part by greed and his friendship with Flemmi and
especially Bulger." He cited testimony from Flemmi, who said he and Bulger
gave Connolly more than $200,000 in cash and gifts from 1981 through 1990.
Attorney William Christie, another attorney for the McIntyre family, said
McIntyre's mother was gratified by the ruling.
"Emily McIntyre kept the flame alive for 20 years in many ways," Christie
said.
"They raised every legal defense throughout the case and continued to deny
responsibility throughout the trial ... Judge Lindsay's order sends a
clear message that individuals can seek redress for wrongs by the
government and obtain justice," he said.
The judge awarded $3 million as compensation for John McIntyre's conscious
suffering and $100,000 as damages for loss of consortium for Emily
McIntyre.
(source: Milford Daily News)