Whitey Bulger Is One Of The Most Violent And Despicable Criminals In Boston History: Prosecutor Asks For Live Sentence - Plus Five

Laurel J. Sweet has been covering the James "Whitey" Bulger trial for the Boston Herald.

Federal prosecutors will advocate convicted serial killer James “Whitey” Bulger spend the rest of his life behind bars — plus a ceremonial five years after that for good measure — when the sentencing portion of his blockbuster trial gets underway Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper has set aside two days for the event, largely because of the huge number of victims’ family members hoping for the chance to address the court about their decades of pain and suffering.

Bulger, the 84-year-old onetime leader of the Winter Hill Gang of South Boston and Somerville, was convicted in August of 11 of 19 mob murder charges dating back to the early 1970s.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly’s six-page sentencing memorandum filed with Casper today called Bulger “one of the most violent and despicable criminals in Boston history” — one he said “richly deserves to spend the rest of his life in jail.”

Bulger still faces state death-penalty prosecutions for murder in Miami, Fla., and Tulsa, Okla.Kelly noted, “There are no mitigating factors, and defendant Bulger has no redeeming qualities, which would justify any sentence below the one called for by the U.S.”

You can read the rest of the piece and watch a video news clip via the below link:

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/11/feds_want_despicable_whitey_bulger_to_get_life_plus_5

You can also read my Q&A with Dick Lehr, one of the authors of Whitey: The Life of America's Most Notorious Mob Boss via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2013/06/crime-beat-column-q-with-dick-lehr-co_17.html