FBI pay out $2.1m reward to 'tipsters' for arrest of James 'Whitey' Bulger after 16 years on the run

The FBI paid $2.1 million in rewards to tipsters who provided information leading to the June arrests of James 'Whitey' Bulger, accused of leading a murderous reign in Boston's criminal underworld, and his girlfriend.



Arrest: This is an undated FBI handout photo released Wednesday, Dec. 30, 1998, showing reputed Boston mobster and fugitive James J. "Whitey" Bulger

The reward money was paid to more than one person, according to an FBI statement released on Friday. It did not identify the recipients.

Bulger, 82, and longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig, 60, were arrested in Santa Monica, California, in June with a stash of about 30 firearms and $822,000 in cash hidden in the wall of their apartment.

Just days ahead of the arrest, the FBI launched new televised public service announcements about the pair, aimed at female viewers who might have seen Greig.

Authorities said the information leading to the arrests was a direct result of the new media campaign.

The FBI had offered $2 million for information leading to the arrest of Bulger, who was placed on the agency's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 1999.

A $100,000 reward was offered for a tip that resulted in apprehending Greig.

Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 after receiving a tip from a corrupt FBI agent that federal charges were pending.



Greig joined him a short time later and has been charged with harbouring Bulger as a fugitive.

Bulger, who is accused of leading the Boston-based Winter Hill Gang for years, faces charges that include 19 alleged murders from the 1970s and 1980s.

Both Bulger and Greig have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.



Keith Messina, a restaurant manager from Las Vegas, said he tried to claim all or part of the reward because he called the television show America's Most Wanted in 2008 and reported seeing Bulger in Santa Monica.

Mr Messina, 45, said that he recently was notified by the FBI that it had rejected his claim and had paid the money to the tipster who provided information that led to the arrest of Bulger and Greig in June.

Mugshots: Bulger and Greig were captured in California, a few days after the FBI began a new publicity campaign focusing on Greig and aimed at a female audience

'That's what they told my attorney, that they were writing the check as we speak,' Mr Messina said.

He added that his attorney had called the FBI to see how they would go about filing a claim for the reward money.

He said after his lawyer was told the reward had been given to someone else, he received a letter from the FBI saying his claim for it had been rejected.

'We still filed a claim,' Mr Messina said. 'They're the ones who made a mistake. They would have had him three years ago. If they had followed my tip, they would have nailed him.'

Mr Messina's attorney, Michael Gowdey, was upset over the matter when speaking by telephone from Las Vegas on Wednesday.

'We all wonder exactly why the FBI would encourage people to make tips that they're just going to ignore,' Mr Gowdey said.



'It took them two years and God-knows-how-much taxpayers' money after Mr Messina made the tip to come to the conclusion that they should check in the place that Mr. Messina told them originally.'

He said the FBI never responded to Messina and claimed it never acted on his tip, 'but it is funny that `Whitey' Bulger was arrested in exactly the spot that Mr Messina reported to America's Most Wanted'.

He said he plans to file a lawsuit to contest the FBI decision to deny his client a share of the reward money.

Mr Messina said he was in Santa Monica with his wife and children when he saw a man who resembled Bulger standing by a pier, wearing shorts and reading a thick book.

The changing faces of Bulger: This poster shows the various crimes he is alleged to have been involved in

He said that when a young couple walked by, Bulger appeared to notice the man's shirt, which had some kind of Boston insignia on it.

'He said: 'Hey, are you from Boston?'' according to Mr Messina. 'Then they started talking about various places in Boston.'

Mr Messina said he then looked on the America's Most Wanted website, recognised the man he saw as Bulger and called staff members at the show to give them his tip. He said he later was told by the staff members that they had passed his tip along to the FBI.

Taking no chances: Bulger is escorted from a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to a waiting vehicle after Boston court hearings in June

Neither the FBI nor the U.S. attorney's office in Boston would confirm whether the reward had been paid. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said the FBI wanted to protect the identity of the tipster and information related to the reward would be released 'if and when the time is appropriate'.

Authorities had previously said only that the tipster was a woman who saw a television news report about a publicity campaign in the manhunt for Bulger, now 82, and Greig, 60. The couple were captured within days after the FBI began the campaign.

Grieg is charged with conspiracy to harbor and conceal a fugitive. She and Bulger have pleaded not guilty.

Bulger's lawyers were in court to update a judge on discovery material turned over by prosecutors.

Attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said the defence has started to go through thousands of documents but needs more time before it can report back to the court. A judge scheduled another status conference for November 21.

Several people who say their family members were Bulger's victims were in court.

Patricia Donahue, the widow of Michael Donahue, who was fatally shot in 1982, said she and her adult son, Tom Donahue, plan to attend every hearing.

'We started this knowing this would be a long haul, and we're going to stick with it,' she said.

Tom Donahue said: 'We want to be here for my father.'