With prison time he's served, former Bulger deputy out soon

Kevin J. Weeks, the once loyal deputy to James "Whitey" Bulger whose cooperation led to the discovery of secret mob graves and indictments against a cadre of gangsters and corrupt law enforcement officials, yesterday was rewarded with a six-year prison term instead of the life sentence he would have faced had he not cut a deal with federal prosecutors.

The 48-year-old former enforcer, who has been jailed since his Nov. 17, 1999, arrest on federal racketeering and extortion charges, will get credit for time served as well as additional "good time" credits, meaning that he will be free by mid-December.

"Merry Christmas," said a bitter Thomas Donahue, 30, whose father, Michael, was shot to death on May 11, 1982, allegedly by Bulger, as Weeks stood lookout. "I'm not happy with [the sentence] by any means at all."

Although Weeks is eligible for the federal Witness Protection Program, his attorney Dennis J. Kelly said there's a "good possibility" that he won't enter the program.

US District Judge Richard G. Stearns, required by a plea agreement to give Weeks a sentence in the five- to 20-year range for racketeering, extortion, and money laundering, rejected both the government's request for a nine-year term and the defense's request for five years.

But Stearns said he agreed with the defense that the sentence "has to be a message to persons similarly situated to Mr. Weeks in the future that the type of cooperation and assistance that he rendered to law enforcement will be weighed significantly by the court in imposing sentence."

Federal prosecutors called Weeks's cooperation unrivaled in the district of Massachusetts, crediting the former enforcer with helping investigators solve murders and prosecute law enforcement officials who had been corrupted by Bulger's gang.

Dressed in a crisp, olive green suit and speaking so softly he could barely be heard in the packed courtroom, Weeks told the judge that he was an 18-year-old bouncer when he first met Bulger.

"My father encouraged me to go along with him," said Weeks, adding, "Of all his children, he was most proudest of me, and that included two brothers that graduated from Harvard."

Weeks said he told Bulger that he wanted to leave the gang in 1982, after his first child was born, but "in no uncertain terms, he told me that there was no out, and I continued on."

After Weeks was arrested, he said he decided to cooperate with law enforcement to reveal the truth, to bring closure to victims' families, and "because it was the right thing to do."

"I would like to say I'm sorry and apologize to those families, and I hope that my actions over the last five years show my apology is sincere," Weeks said.

Assistant US Attorney Brian T. Kelly told the judge that a 1995 federal racketeering indictment against Bulger and his sidekick, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, was in jeopardy of being dismissed after it was revealed that the two were longtime FBI informants until Weeks began cooperating and implicated the pair in numerous murders.

Weeks's cooperation also led to the convictions of retired FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr.; Bulger's brother, John Bulger; Flemmi's brother, Michael Flemmi, a retired Boston police officer; Richard Schneiderhan, a retired State Police lieutenant; and two telephone company employees who had been leaking information about wiretaps.

In January 2000, Weeks led investigators from the State Police and the US Drug Enforcement Administration to a Dorchester grave containing the remains of three victims of Bulger's gang: Arthur "Bucky" Barrett, who vanished in 1983; John McIntyre, who disappeared in 1984; and Deborah Hussey, who had been missing since 1985. He admitted burying the bodies there after the victims were killed by Bulger and Flemmi.

Flemmi pleaded guilty last year to nine murders; Bulger remains a fugitive.

Weeks admitted that he helped kidnap Barrett and McIntyre before they were slain. He also confessed to serving as lookout while Donahue and Edward "Brian" Halloran were gunned down by Bulger and a masked man on the South Boston waterfront nearly 22 years ago. He said Bulger had learned that Halloran was cooperating with authorities against him. Donahue was an unintended victim, killed because he was giving Halloran a ride home.

Boston attorney Edward T. Hinchey, who is representing the Donahue family in a civil suit against the government, urged Stearns to order Weeks to provide a written statement, under oath, detailing how Donahue was killed and identifying Bulger's accomplice. But Stearns said that the judge hearing the Donahues's civil suit should handle the request.

US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, who became the state's top federal prosecutor after Weeks had already cut his deal, called it "distasteful," but noted, "It sometimes takes a deal with a criminal to catch more violent criminals."

State Police Colonel Thomas Foley said, "Hopefully, the greater good has been done here, and I think that's the case."