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AP Photo/WBUR 90.
This booking photograph shows Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger.
Mobster James "Whitey" Bulger was taken to a Boston hospital Sunday after complaining of chest pains at the prison where he is awaiting trial for his alleged role in 19 murders, local media reported.
Bulger, 83, the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, was hospitalized Sunday for chest pains at Boston Medical Center, according to The Boston Globe.
Plymouth Fire Department battalion chief Kevin Murphy told The Globe that firefighters responded to the Plymouth County Correctional Facility at 1:48 a.m. Sunday and took Bulger to the hospital.
WBUR-FM in Boston first reported that Bulger was hospitalized for chest pains, citing unnamed law enforcement sources.
According to NBC affiliate WHDH in Boston, security has been heightened at the medical center, and Massachusetts State Corrections officers are working in shifts during Bulger's stay. U.S. marshals are also at the site guarding Bulger, WHDH reported.
“Maybe he's trying to get a rest, get out of the jail cell for a while,” a local resident told WHDH.
A Boston Medical Center representative refused to comment on the hospital's public safety plans, WHDH said.
The U.S. attorney's office, the U.S. Marshals Service, and Bulger attorney Hank Brennan declined to comment.
Bulger's trial is scheduled to begin in March, but his lawyers have said they cannot be ready by then because they are reviewing more than 300,000 documents turned over by prosecutors. Last week, they asked that the trial be moved to November 2013.
Whitey Bulger was often seen around Santa Monica, Calif. and took frequent trips to Mexico while evading the FBI. But after 16 years on the run, he's adjusting to life behind bars. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Bulger's lawyers said in court papers filed Friday that the current trial date infringes on Bulger's constitutional rights to effective counsel and due process.
Bulger's lead attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., has repeatedly complained that prosecutors have turned over documents in a disorganized fashion. Prosecutors have accused Carney of using stall tactics.
Whitey Bulger's lover gets 8 years in prison
Bulger fled Boston in 1994 and was captured last year in Santa Monica, Calif.
The defense says Bulger was an FBI informant who had immunity to commit crimes while he was providing information about the Mafia, his gang's main rival. In court papers filed this week, Carney identified former U.S. Attorney Jeremiah O'Sullivan as the federal official Bulger claims gave him immunity. O'Sullivan died in 2009.
Prosecutors say Bulger never received immunity from anyone.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Boston Police Department via EPA
A Boston Police booking image dated March 16,1953, of James 'Whitey' Bulger.
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Leave a Comment:
The guy is responsible for 19 killings they say. How many of our soldiers have been sent to their deaths by our politicians in these Useless wars that have gained us NOTHING. Why aren't our Politicians in Prison?? We were never attacked by these countries.
And your point, regarding this story, is what?
Politicians are not in prison because you keep re-electing them...........
Tarzan, you need to go sit in a dark corner and keep rocking until the bad voices go. Then come back and stay on topic.
Gee imagine that ...our government jumping into bed with the bad guys...hoods, gangstas, the saudis and paks, when will we learn...
Duh, missed the whole point...immunity to commit 19 murders....I do not believe that was the deal, poorly written article
I say that in this case I agree with the Republican who was running for President, Letum die. This criminal is getting better Healthcare than I am, and I pay around nine hundred a month for my wife and mtself. There is really something wrong with our system in America. These criminasl should recieve NO healthcare, just hard labor.
So they filed papers this week, naming O'Sullivan as Whitey's contact man in the JD?
Gosh, how awful. The dude died a few years ago. It's harder to tell lies about someone if they're still breathing, ain't it, Whitey?
Of course, this'll tie up the courts some more; maybe long enough for you to die in jail.
Adios, MF
Also George Clorox, isn't Clorox a bleach used for making things 'white'? How 'bout James "Clorox" Bulger?
It is the name he grew up with. It really has little to do with the color of his skin. If people refer to him as Whitey it's not as if they care or have respect for this monster.
Please leave this old man alone. He is innocent intill proven guilty. Let the man talk. Why would he lie now. He knows he is old and doesnt have much time. Let him tell what really happened. He is not a murder. Peace
Whatever this guy has done in his past seems to be just that, in the past. He is an old man now and appears no threat to anyone.
Are any of the 19 people he is accused of murdering worth the effort now? Just wondering.
Guy is lucky it's not lead poisoning.
Gittin time to pay the Piper Ol Hoss,We all get our turn at the wheel,eventually...
This man is innocent. Why do you think pages get taken down if someone makes comments the feds dont like. Think about it. Some one is lying and I bet you, it isnt whitey. This man has been used to long. Let him go and let there be no trail, for it is a taxpayer who is fitting the bill. Also, This is a mistrail now. He cant get a fair trail because he has already been addressed as a monster, a Murderer. Thats just what the feds want, already convicted without trail. He would not hurt a fly. Being a criminal by stealing and doing other things, yes I can believe, But as for murder, get real. Think about it. They dont show no pictures of him, except that one. Let this man talk. We all would like to have answers. Please Whitey tell the truth, You are a good man. Billy, if you really love your brother, please make him tell the truth. May God be with you. People stop all the hate on a man you dont know nothing about, except what you are told. Mr Carney, please do a good job and keep him safe. I send my love to the family, for they have been through ..... well you know what the next word is.