[7][8][4] Beginning in 1997, press reports exposed various instances of criminal misconduct by federal, state and local officials with ties to Bulger, causing embarrassment to several government agencies, especially the FBI.

In 1971, the younger Killeen brother Kenny allegedly shot and mauled Michael "Mickey" Dwyer, a member of the rival Mullen Gang, during a brawl at the Transit Café.

[44]: 135–138  By January 1980, the FBI were aware of Bulger's headquarters at the Lancaster Street Garage but failed to investigate or inform other law enforcement agencies of the gang clubhouse.

[49] The Massachusetts State Police discovered the location by chance while investigating an auto theft ring, finding that Bulger and Flemmi would openly associate with other organized crime figures, including Donato "Danny" Angiulo, Vincent "the Animal" Ferrara and Phil Waggenheim, at the garage.

Then, in November 1980, the state troopers learned that Morris had errantly told a Boston police detective at a bachelor party that Bulger and his gang knew that the Lancaster Street Garage was bugged, effectively exposing the FBI as the source of the leak.

In 1988, Bulger's status as an FBI informant was revealed publicly when the Globe's "Spotlight" team, led by journalist Gerard O'Neill, published a story detailing the numerous crimes committed and attributed to him while nominally under the protection of the Bureau.

On June 3, Paul E. Coffey, the head of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Department of Justice, gave a sworn statement admitting that Bulger had been an FBI informant.

[44]: 300–301 On September 5, 2006, federal judge Reginald C. Lindsay ruled that the mishandling of Bulger and Flemmi caused the 1984 murder of police informant John McIntyre, awarding his family $3.1 million in damages.

Lindsay stated the FBI failed to properly supervise Connolly and "stuck its head in the sand" regarding numerous allegations that Bulger and Flemmi were involved in drug trafficking, murder, and other crimes for decades.

[57]In 1982, a South Boston cocaine dealer named Edward Brian Halloran, known on the streets as "Balloonhead" because of his large cranium, approached the FBI and stated that he had witnessed Bulger and Flemmi murdering Litif.

Connolly kept Bulger and Flemmi closely briefed on what Halloran was saying, specifically his claims, false according to Weeks, to having participated in the Tulsa, Oklahoma murder of businessman Roger Wheeler.

[73] On May 27, 1981, Martorano, using guns shipped by bus from Bulger and Flemmi, and wearing a golf cap, sunglasses, and a fake beard, killed Wheeler by shooting him in the face in the parking lot of the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.

[65] At the request of state and local law enforcement in Oklahoma and Florida investigating the murders of Wheeler and Callahan, Bulger and Flemmi were interviewed by two Boston FBI agents, Gerald Montanari and Brendan Cleary, on November 2, 1983.

According to an interview conducted with Globe reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy, Weeks "estimated that Whitey made about thirty million dollars... most of it from shaking down drug dealers to let them do business on his turf.

The final cache included "91 rifles, 8 submachine guns, 13 shotguns, 51 handguns, 11 bullet-proof vests, 70,000 rounds of ammunition, plus an array of hand grenades and rocket heads".

[77] Valhalla departed Gloucester and rendezvoused 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) off the west coast of Ireland with the Marita Ann, an IRA ship that had sailed from Tralee.

During the return voyage, the Irish Navy stopped Marita Ann and seized the hidden arsenal, arresting IRA members Martin Ferris, Mike Browne, and John Crawley.

[71] Several days later, Valhalla crew member John McIntyre was arrested for drunk driving while "trying to visit his estranged wife", and he confessed his role in the weapons smuggling to the Boston Police.

After a number of bookmakers agreed to testify to having paid protection money to Bulger, a federal case was built against him under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

And he was.Bulger had also set up safe deposit boxes containing cash, jewelry and passports in locations across North America and Europe, including Florida, Oklahoma, Montreal, Dublin, London, Birmingham and Venice.

"[36]: 233 In mid-November 1995, Weeks and Bulger met for the last time at the lion statues at the front of the New York Public Library Main Branch and adjourned for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

However, while awaiting trial in Rhode Island's Wyatt federal prison, Weeks was approached by a fellow inmate, a "made man" in the Patriarca family, who told him, "Kid, what are you doing?

Two people on video footage shot in Taormina, Sicily, formerly thought to be Bulger and Greig walking in the streets of the city center, were later identified as a tourist couple from Germany.

[104] In Florida, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said, "After a 16-year delay, I will be working to ensure that a Miami jury has the opportunity to look [Bulger] in the eyes and determine his fate".

that Bulger, in exchange for favorable treatment in sentencing, would have much to tell authorities about corruption at the local, state and federal levels, which allowed him to operate his criminal enterprise for so long.

[120] Greig served much of her eight-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Waseca in Minnesota,[121] but was also detained at various points in Rhode Island ahead of proceedings in the criminal contempt case.

When Bulger arrived at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson there were other famous inmates there, including Brian David Mitchell, Steven Dale Green and Montoya Sánchez.

Apparently the inmate was not motivated by any personal issues with Bulger, but committed the near-fatal assault so that he would be sent to solitary confinement, allegedly to avoid paying for drugs he had acquired from other prisoners.

On June 12, 2013, Bulger went on trial in South Boston's John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse before Judge Denise J. Casper on 32 counts of racketeering and firearms possession.

[151][152][153] John "Jackie" Bulger, a retired Massachusetts court clerk magistrate, was convicted in April 2003 of committing perjury in front of two grand juries regarding sworn statements he gave concerning contacts with his fugitive brother.