That same year, he pleaded guilty in Oklahoma to killing Wheeler, the chairman of Telex Corp. In , Flemmi was also sentenced to life in prison by a Miami judge for the slaying of Callahan, a Boston businessman with ties to organized crime.
Under state law at the time of the slaying, he had to serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Connolly Jr. John Martorano, a hitman-turned-government witness, admitted that he lured Callahan, a longtime friend, to Florida and shot him to death. He could be sent back to prison if his health dramatically improves.
Croix, who cooperated with authorities after his father confessed to him in that he and Bulger killed his sister Deborah Hussey in , said after the hearing that his father has shown no remorse. Flemmi testified that he lured Hussey, then 26, to a South Boston home and watched Bulger strangle her. Hussey was a toddler when Flemmi moved in with her mother; he raised her with St. Callahan August was a Boston business consultant who was murdered on the orders of Whitey Bulger in Callahan had helped Bulger with his embezzlement scheme in World Jai Alai, and conspired with him to kill new owner Roger Wheeler.
However, Callahan was murdered by Johnny Martorano in Miami to tie up loose ends, as Callahan was seen as a possible "weak link" in the case of an FBI investigation. In , he became president of World Jai Alai, but he left office two years later after Connecticut authorities began to investigate his links to organized crime; police had spotted him fraternizing with Whitey Bulger and members of the Winter Hill Gang.
In , he helped arrange the sale of World Jai Alai to Roger Wheeler , who began to launch his own investigation into an embezzlement scheme by Bulger and Callahan. Callahan and Bulger had Wheeler murdered in , and, in May , Edward Brian Halloran was murdered alongside an innocent bystander after he cooperated with the FBI in its investigation into Wheeler's murder. Callahan was lured to Miami , Florida by Johnny Martorano , who murdered him. On 2 August , Callahan's bullet-ridden body was found stuffed in the trunk of his Cadillac in a parking lot at the Miami International Airport.
Connolly's lawyer, Manuel Casabielle, says the idea that his client took bribes is "absolutely, categorically untrue. In his conversation with NEWSWEEK, Connolly protested that government investigators have to get close to their high-level informants, who are typically bad people, because that is the only way to penetrate secret criminal organizations or terrorist cells.
While the government portrays him as a single rogue agent, Connolly describes himself as a "scapegoat. A former FBI agent testifying for the defense admitted that Connolly delivered Christmas gifts from mobsters to him—a black leather briefcase, an expensive figurine, a bottle of cognac. The supervisor, John Morris, was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying. It is commonplace and necessary for federal agents to use criminal informants to crack criminal conspiracies.
But "you don't have informants at the top of the food chain," says Rick Fraelick, a retired Massachusetts State Police major, who attended part of the trial because he said Connolly compromised his own probes of Bulger's gang.
Connolly grew up in the same grim housing project in "Southie" as Bulger did. As they rise out of poverty, proud and ambitious men can make different choices.
Connolly recruited Whitey on a beach in Quincy in At the time, Bulger was afraid he had been targeted by the Mafia and wanted some cover. In addition to a lot of useful tips about the Italian mob, Connolly seems to have gotten a charge from hanging around a colorful and smart if wicked character like Bulger.
But the game turned ugly. Connolly said that the Feds made a deal with Bulger to turn a blind eye to his gambling and loan-sharking—but betrayed him by bringing racketeering charges in By then, Connolly says, he feared Bulger would come after his family. Connolly says he never crossed the line in helping Bulger.
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