By Steve Neavling

When disgraced former FBI agent John Connolly was released from prison in February 2021, he was expected to live about another year. 

On Thursday, the one-year anniversary of his release, Connolly was still alive and living in Massachusetts. 

Even though his one-year medical break from prison is over, he will remain free unless he “violated conditions of his medical release,” a spokesman for the Florida Commission on Offender Review told the Boston Herald.

Connolly, who has multiple melanomas and diabetes, was granted a medical release by a 2-1 vote of the commission.  

“There is nothing in his conditions that state surviving (more than a year) is a violation,” Angela Meredith from the Florida commission said. “I have no more updates on the case.”

Connolly had been serving a 40-year sentence for working with mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger. 

While working for the FBI’s Boston Field Office in the 1970s, Connolly recruited Bulger as an informant. Connolly was convicted of second-degree murder for participating in a plot to kill a Florida businessman in 1982 at the urging of Bulger, who was killed in a West Virginia prison in 2018. 

By Steve Neavling

Disgraced former FBI Agent Connolly has returned Massachusetts with a full pension. 

Connolly, 81, who was granted a medical release from prison, was eligible for a pension under the Hiss Act of 1954, which allows federal employees to keep their retirement benefits even if they are convicted of serious crimes, except for espionage and treason, The Boston Herald reports.

Mary Callahan, whose husband was killed by mobster James “Whitey” Bulger’s gang, couldn’t believe it. 

“Unbelievable,” Callahan told The Herald. 

“They’re always covering their asses,” she added Friday night. “I’ve called the FBI countless times trying to get my husband’s gold Rolex back and all his papers. They’re taking care of their own guy but I can’t afford a lawyer to fight them.”

Connolly was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for working with Bulger. 

His lawyer Peter Mullane said the former FBI agent has “two serious illnesses.”

“He has multiple melanomas and pretty bad diabetes,” Mullane. 

While working for the FBI’s Boston Field Office in the 1970s, Connolly recruited Bulger as an informant. Connolly was convicted of second-degree murder for participating in a plot to kill a Florida businessman in 1982 at the urging of Bulger, who was killed in a West Virginia prison in 2018. 

By Steve Neavling

John Connolly, the disgraced former FBI agent who was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for working with mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, is headed home to Massachusetts, a widow told The Boston Herald.

In February, the Florida Commission on Offender Review voted 2 to 1 to grant Connolly’s request for medical release after his lawyers said he had terminal cancer. 

Mary Callahan, whose husband was murdered by Bulger’s gang, said her family had been alerted that Connolly is coming back to Massachusetts. 

In requesting the medical release in February, Connolly’s lawyer, Peter Mullane, said the former FBI agent has “two serious illnesses.”

“He has multiple melanomas and pretty bad diabetes,” Mullane. 

While working for the FBI’s Boston Field Office in the 1970s, Connolly recruited Bulger as an informant. Connolly was convicted of second-degree murder for participating in a plot to kill a Florida businessman in 1982 at the urging of Bulger, who was killed in a West Virginia prison in 2018. 

“It must be great to get back to where you started,” Callahan told The Herald on Monday. “I wish my husband could come back to where he once was.”

By Steve Neavling

John Connolly, the disgraced former FBI agent who was sentenced to 40 years behind bars for working with mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, will be released from prison after his lawyers said he has terminal cancer. 

The Florida Commission on Offender Review voted 2 to 1 to grant Connolly’s request for medical release on Wednesday. 

“We are pleased,” his attorney James E. McDonald told CNN. “John is 80 years old, he has cancer, and from my perspective, he’s been wrongfully convicted. Which is why I’ve been representing him for free for 15 years.”

Connolly’s release date has not been set yet, but McDonald said he expects him to be released as early as Friday.

In requesting the medical release, another of Connolly’s lawyer, Peter Mullane, said Connolly has “two serious illnesses.”

“He has multiple melanomas and pretty bad diabetes,” Mullane. 

While working for the FBI’s Boston Field Office in the 1970s, Connolly recruited Bulger as an informant. Connolly was convicted of second-degree murder for participating in a plot to kill a Florida businessman in 1982 at the urging of Bulger, who was killed in a West Virginia prison in 2018. 

By Steve Neavling

Disgraced former FBI agent John Connolly, who is serving a 40-year prison sentence for assisting notorious gangster “Whitey” Bulger, is asking to be released from prison because his lawyers says he’s dying. 

His request will be reviewed Wednesday by the Florida Commission on Offender Review, The Boston Herald reports.

“It’s on the docket for the 17th and he’s seeking a conditional medical release,” commission spokeswoman Angela Meredith said. 

Connolly’s lawyer Peter Mullane said Connolly has “two serious illnesses.”

“He has multiple melanomas and pretty bad diabetes,” Mullane. 

While working for the FBI’s Boston Field Office in the 1970s, Connolly recruited Bulger as an informant. Connolly was convicted of second-degree murder for participating in a plot to kill a Florida businessman in 1982 at the urging of Bulger, who was killed in a West Virginia prison in 2018. 

In April, Connolly unsuccessfully requested to be released from prison

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Former FBI Agent John Connolly, who is serving a 40-year prison sentence for assisting notorious gangster “Whitey” Bulger, is asking to be freed from prison because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 79-year-old “suffers from multiple severe medical conditions, poses no threat to the public safety, and seeks release to protect him from contracting the novel coronavirus,” his attorneys wrote to a Florida judge this week, The Miami Herald reports.

His lawyers say Connolly would live with his brother in Florida and serve the remainder of his sentence on home confinement.

While working for the FBI’s Boston Field Office in the 1970s, Connolly recruited Bulger as an informant. Connolly was convicted of second-degree murder for participating in a plot to kill a Florida businessman in 1982 at the urging of Bulger.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office does not want Connolly to be released.

“He deserves to remain behind bars,” State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle told The Miami Herald. “He was an FBI agent who used his badge to give information that led to the death of an informant. It’s reprehensible.”

The former agent is asking that he be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence on home confinement.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

If he lives long enough, disgraced former FBI agent John Connolly will benefit from a new prison sentence. 

Connolly, who is behind bars for a 1982 murder tied to imprisoned New England mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, will be 98 by the time of his June 22, 2039 release date, the Associated Press reports.

The new release date was set by the Florida Commission on Offender Review.

Connolly, who was Bulger’s FBI handler in Boston, was convicted in 2008 of second-degree murder following the murder of World Jai-Alai President John Callahan. Connolly tipped off Bulger that Callahan was about to rat out Bulger’s gang in another murder.

The relationship between Bulger and Connolly inspired the 2006 Martin Scorsese film, “The Departed.”