It’s been more than seven months since the FBI’s two most notorious Ten Most Wanted criminals — Osama bin Laden and Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger — were eliminated as fugitives. One was killed. The other was captured.

Whitey Bulger

Still, to date, the FBI has yet to replace them. So for all practical purposes, its a Top 8 list for now. Their photos remain on the FBI page. Bulger’s photo has word “Captured” draped across the bottom. Bin Laden’s photo has the word “Deceased” on it.

Paul Bresson, an FBI spokesman at headquarters, said Tuesday that “replacements are still under consideration.” Stay tuned.

Retired FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick tells his compelling story of trying to bring Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger to justice in “Betrayal,” written with Jon Land.

Fitzpatrick’s career was filled with multiple commendations and promotions, and when he transferred to Boston in the early 1980s with orders to “clean up the mess,” he jumped right in and asked to meet Bulger, a prized informant.

Fitzpatrick was shocked to discover Bulger acting like he was in charge. He tried to shut down Bulger’s FBI informant status and have him arrested for murder, but Bulger managed to stay one step ahead.

The book is available on Amazon.

To read more click here.

U.S. Atty. Carmen Ortiz

Carmen Ortiz, the U.S. Attorney who made headlines as the lead prosecutor in  the case of the infamous crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger and his long-time girlfriend Catherine Greig, has been named “Bostonian of the Year,” by the Boston Globe Magazine, the publication announced in a press release on Friday.

The Globe, which will feature a profile of Ortiz in a special Sunday edition of the paper, called the Attorney “the fighter” due to her “long history prosecuting political corruption cases,” according to the release, beginning with an internship in 1980 with the US Department of Justice’s public integrity unit, where she worked alongside Eric Holder.

“We are excited to honor a woman who has faced, and cleared, many hurdles – she is Boston’s first female and first Hispanic US attorney – as Bostonian of the Year,” Susanne Althoff, editor of The Boston Globe Magazine, said. “Ms. Ortiz’ successful prosecutions of corruption cases have had an indelible impact on the Massachusetts political landscape.”

To read more click here.

Using media and social media as it did to  help capture Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger earlier this year, the FBI field office in D.C. announced plans this week to to go after  the “Potomac River Rapist”, believed to be responsible for eight sexual assaults, one attempted one and one murder between 1991 to 1998.

The FBI announced a $25,000 reward, plus an intense media campaign to try and heat up the cold case. Authorities linked the multiple crimes through DNA.

“The digital media campaign includes the launch of a dedicated website; digital billboards up and down the East Coast; social media alerts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube; as well as podcasts on iTunes and radio spots to raise awareness of the investigation,” an FBI press release said.

“The multi-pronged effort is designed to develop new leads and raise awareness of the ongoing cold-case investigation. The campaign implements similar techniques that have led to the arrests in cases including the East Coast Rapist as well as Ten Most Wanted fugitive Whitey Bulger.”

The FBI said that one of the victims, Christine Mirzayan, a 29-year-old intern, was sexually attacked and murdered while walking to her residence in Georgetown on Aug. 1, 1998. The rest of the sexual assaults took place in Montgomery County, just outside of D.C.

“In law enforcement, we understand that justice delayed does not mean that justice will be denied,” D.C. U.S Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr. said in a statement. “We are committed to obtaining justice for Christine Mirzayan and the other victims of the Potomac River Rapist, but we need the public’s help. One piece of information from the public—no matter how insignificant it might seem—could crack this case and allow us to apprehend this killer.”

See website on the Potomac River Rapist

OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST

• Ex-FBI Chief Freeh Trades on Fame (Bloomberg)
• FBI Warns of Relative in Distress Scam (LA Times)
• FBI Had GPS Track on Bank Robber Car (Wood TV)
• FBI Dir. Mueller Approves of Change in Rape Definition (Ms. Magazine)
• Wayne County Exec. Rethinks Response to FBI Subpoenas (Detroit News)
• TSA  Agent Leaves Note in Bag After Finding Pot (Forbes)

By Danny Fenster

John Kerry has joined others in urging the federal government to pay the families of two men allegedly killed by James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious gangster and FBI informant, reports Boston.com.

As reported in ticklethewire.com previously, Rep. William R. Keating, a Democrat of Massachusetts, has already urged the government to pay the families $8.5 million in compensation they were initially awarded by a federal judge in Boston.  He introduced legislation last month to compensate the families after a federal court of  appeals tossed out the award on a technicality, saying the families had waited too long to seek restitution.

Now, the Massachusetts senator and one-time presidential Democratic candidate Kerry  has filed similar legislation in the senate urging that the original decision be upheld, rewarding the $8.5 million to the families, reports Boston.com.

“We can’t place a time limit on these families’ grief or allow arbitrary restrictions to deny them the court-ordered damages they’re due,” Kerry said in a news release. “It’s our job to make this right.”

Bulger was working as an FBI informant and running wild, and a Boston federal judge back in 2009 awarded the families nearly $8.5 million, saying the government was negligent when it essentially let informant Bulger — under its watch — get away with murder.

Bulger allegedly killed the two men after learning from the FBI that one of them was cooperating with agents against Bulger. Micheal Donahue, a 32-year-old truck driver, was giving Edward “Brian” Halloran, a 41-year-old associate of Bulger’s, a lift home from a waterfront bar in Boston on May 11, 1982 when Bulger and an unidentified associate allegedly opened fire on the car. Halloran was targeted because he was suspected of working with the FBI.

To read more click here and here.

Ben Affleck/facebook photo

It was just a matter of time.

Four months after the FBI captured Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger  in California, word has surfaced that a movie will be made based on his life.

The website Deadline New York reports that actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon “are reuniting in their first real picture partnership since Good Will Hunting” to make the movie about Bulger.

Deadline New York reports that Warner Bros will make the film and Affleck will direct, co-star. Damon will play Bulger.

“Matt and I have been looking for something to do together for some time,” Affleck said, according to the website. “We’ve heard about Whitey Bulger since we were kids, and we are excited by the prospect of putting it on screen.”

The movie The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, was supposedly inspired by the Bulger story.

Bulger was a fugitive for 16 years.

The website said the new movie will be based on Bulger’s life including his time as an FBI informant, which has long been a sensitive issue within the FBI.

Robert Mueller

Shades of Boston mobster Whitey Bulger?

A letter from Sen. Charles Grassley to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III seems to suggest so.

If you recall, the Boston FBI caught hell for letting Bulger run wild and commit crimes while he acted as informant and snitched on his rivals back in the day. Bulger, who was captured in June,   is a suspect in 19 murders.

Now comes mobster Mark Rossetti, a “capo” and “acting consigliore” who worked as a confidential informant for the FBI all while committing his fair share of serious crimes. There are concerns by some inside and outside law enforcement that the FBI should have cut off Rossetti as an informant when it became clear how dangerous a criminal he was.

In a letter to Mueller, Grassley wrote:

“As a Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, I write to inquire about recent reports from the Boston area regarding the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) ties with alleged mafia “capo” and “acting consigliore” Mark Rossetti as a confidential informant and reports that the FBI misrepresented Mr. Rossetti’s status as an informant to the Massachusetts State Police.”

“Mr. Rossetti is currently under state indictment for a multitude of crimes including home invasions, heroin and marijuana trafficking, gambling, and loan sharking. Additionally Mr. Rossetti was convicted of armed robbery, beating a Massachusetts State Trooper nearly to death and was a suspect in multiple murders and the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum art heist, the largest in Boston history.”

“Despite all these alleged crimes and the claim that Mr. Rossetti was running a ‘sprawling criminal enterprise,’ it appears that the FBI may have engaged in a long-term relationship with Mr. Rossetti.

“In fact, as early as 1992, an FBI agent’s pager number was found on Mr. Rossetti and former Massachusetts State Detective Bill McGreal stated that an FBI agent declined to pursue a case against Mr. Rossetti saying, ‘we decided to pass on Rossetti” despite strong evidence from a cooperating witness.’”

“According to media reports, the FBI initially misrepresented Mr. Rossetti’s status as an informant to the Massachusetts State Police. An August 16, 2011, Boston Globe article titled “Sleeping with enemy, again” reports that FBI agents initially denied that Mr. Rossetti was an FBI informant prior to commencing their investigation into his activities.

“According to the article, the FBI agents denied that they were working with Mr. Rossetti and it was only when Massachusetts State Police electronic surveillance picked up conversations between Mr. Rossetti and his FBI handler, that the FBI finally came clean and admitted its relationship to the Massachusetts State Police.”

“Given the well documented FBI malfeasance in the Whitey Bulger saga, the FBI’s actions related to organized crime in Boston deserve a heightened level of scrutiny. In light of these past experiences and the questions raised by local media, please provide answers to the following questions:

1) Was Mr. Rossetti a confidential informant for the FBI?

a. If so, when did he become a confidential informant?

b. If so, when was this relationship terminated and why?

c. If so, was he a paid informant and how much was he paid?

2) When did the FBI first become aware of Mr. Rossetti’s criminal activity?

3) What alleged crimes was the FBI aware of?

4) Prior to being made aware of Mr. Rossetti’s alleged criminal activity by the Massachusetts State Police, was the FBI aware of any crimes alleged to have been committed by Mr. Rossetti?

a. If so, were any of those alleged crimes felonies, violent felonies, or homicides?

5) Did the FBI conduct an internal inspection, investigation, or review by the Office of Professional Responsibility into its agents’ handling of Mr. Rossetti?

a. If so, when was this investigation conducted and what entity conducted the review?

6) Have FBI agents at any time claimed to Massachusetts State Troopers that Mr. Rossetti was not a confidential informant for the FBI?

a. If so, describe the circumstances of these representations by FBI agents and when they occurred.

b. Were FBI agents ever disciplined for making representations that Mr. Rossetti was not a confidential informant? If so, please describe.

c. Please provide a written statement of the FBI’s policy regarding use of confidential informants and any other informal policies related to criminal informants and criminal activity.

Thank you for your cooperation and attention in this matter. I would appreciate a response by October 31, 2011. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Chris Lucas for the Committee on the Judiciary at (202) 224-5225.

Rep. Keating/gov photo

Rep. William R. Keating (D-Mass.) is asking Congress to pay the families of two men allegedly killed by James “Whitey’’ Bulger the $8.5 million they were initially awarded by a Boston federal judge, the Boston Globe reported.  The Court of Appeals this year tossed out the award on a technicality, saying the families filed the suits too late.

Bulger allegedly killed the two men after learning from the FBI that one of them was cooperating with agents against Bulger,  reports Boston.com.

A judge in 2009 found the government responsible for the 1982 deaths of  Michael Donahue and Edward “Brian” Halloran. The judge found the government acted irresponsibly by essentially letting Bulger run wild and commit crimes while he worked as an informant. But the Justice Department fought against the judgment, and successfully argued on appeal that the lawsuit had not been filed on time.

The Quincy Democrat reported that Keating filed two bills late Tuesday seeking compensation for the families of Donahue and Halloran because they failed to get justice in federal court.

“I just thought justice wasn’t being served,’’ Keating told the Globe. “I know if it was my family, I wouldn’t feel comfortable sleeping at night until every possible avenue was pursued.’’ The Democrat from Massachusetts filed two bills late Tuesday seeking compensation for the families.

Whitey Bulger/fbi

The Boston Globe is standing by its decision to publicly name the tipster that led federal agents to nab fugitive gangster James “Whitey” Bulger in June in California.

Editors were confident that revealing the name of Anna Bjornsdottir, an Iceland native and Santa Monica, Calif. neighbor of Bulger’s, did not pose a threat to Anna, and that the public interest was better served by the disclosure, reports Boston.com.

“We were confident Whitey Bulger and Cathy Greig knew exactly who the tipster was,’’ The Globe’s deputy managing editor for local news Jennifer Peter told the site. “We asked people directly involved in the investigation if she would be in danger if we named her. No one told us she would be in danger at all.’’

The paper said that naming Bjornsdottir served the public by quelling speculations that the FBI had made the tipster up, and that the decision was run by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office, neither of which voiced complaints.

The FBI has had a “corrupt history” with Bulger, says Boston.com.

“There have been so many deceptions and lies in the past. In order to provide a definitive story, and tell the story as it actually happened, we had to name her,” said Peter, the local news editor. “If we didn’t, it wouldn’t be a credible retelling of how Bulger was arrested.’’

Bulger, a longtime FBI informant, fled before a 1995 federal racketeering indictment after being warned of looming charges by a corrupt former FBI handler. He is being held without bail on charges of killing 19 people.

To read more click here.

Updated Bulger photo/wbur

The former Miss Iceland Anna Bjornsdottir was splitting her time between Iceland and Santa Monica, Calif. when, at home in Iceland, she saw a photo of her Santa Monica neighbors, Carole and Charlie Gasko, flash across the TV screen, according to CBS Boston. The Gaskos’ were actually mob boss Whitey Bulger and girlfriend Carole Greig. Bjornsdottir called the FBI.

While the tip led the FBI to Bulger, some say the FBI’s inability to protect Bjornsdottir’s identity may harm not only her safety but the integrity of the whole tipster program, reports the Boston Herald.

“They can’t guarantee her 100 percent safety going forward,” former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan told the Herald. “It’s unnecessary publicity and unnecessary harassment.”

CBS Boston reports that Bjornsdottir bonded with Whitey’s girlfriend Carole over a stray cat. “Cathy took this cat under her wing. She would come out every morning and feed this cat. While she was feeding the cat, Anna was stop, and they would talk. They developed a bit of a bond,” CBS Boston quotes a Boston Globe report.

To read more click here.