Long before Whitey Bulger was transferred to the high-security prison in Tucson, Ariz. and long before he stood a high-profile trial in Boston’s Seaport District, the notorious Southie mobster was captured in Santa Monica, Calif. after 16 years on the lam. Upon capture, the FBI and constituent authorities found Bulger’s apartment stockpiled with an arsenal of firearms and ammunition, over $800,000 in cash, and various articles of clothing and books. But if any of you happen to have an affinity for gangster gear, you could be in luck.
U.S. Attorney General for Massachusetts Carmen Ortiz and company are preparing to sell Bulger’s personal possessions at a criminal forfeiture auction “expected to be held over the next few months,” according to the Associated Press.
When Bulger was sentenced to two life sentences plus five years in prison back in November, presiding Judge Casper ordered $19.5 million be made in restitution to all the living family members of the lives he claimed – that includes the approximately $800,000 seized in cash plus an estimate of what his victims would have earned since their tragic murders and funeral costs.
The only issue is how Ortiz plans to raise the necessary capital without glorifying Bulger – the subject of numerous written works, documentaries, and feature films – any further. After all, Judge Casper conveyed to Bulger during his sentencing hearing that the Southie native has “become a face of this city, “that is regrettable.'”
“We want to certainly be able to obtain funds to go back to the victims who were harmed by Bulger, but we don’t want to do that in a way that glorifies Bulger or potentially causes some offense to the victims or others who have been impacted by Bulger,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Murrane to the AP.
Murrane noted further that the authorities are unclear at this time which items will be auctioned off.
But while some of the items annexed are nothing more than everyday household paraphernalia, Bulger was in ownership of others that could bring in a pretty penny ” including a gold and diamond claddagh ring with an estimated appraised value of $48,000, a replica of a 1986 Stanley Cup championship ring and a 40-inch flat-screen TV.”
Though the date of the auction is still undetermined at this point, authorities are optimistic on how much revenue his items could generate. The AP notes that Ted Kaczynski’s (the “Unabomber”) goods brought in $232,000 in 2011 while Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff’s raised $3.2 million.
