Oct 14, 2008 12:21 pm US/Eastern
Judge: Connolly Valuable In Mafia War
By Curt Anderson, AP Legal Affairs Writer
MIAMI (AP) ―
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John Connolly in a Miami courtroom Sept. 8
WBZ
A former Boston FBI agent on trial for murder was key to major New England Mafia investigations because of his skill at recruiting and handling top confidential gangster informants, a former mob prosecutor, now a federal judge, testified Tuesday.
Senior U.S. District Judge Edward F. Harrington, who was Boston's U.S. attorney during the Carter administration, said ex-agent John Connolly's contributions were "without parallel" in prosecutions that weakened the powerful
Patriarca family. That included planting a listening device at the family's Boston headquarters.
"John Connolly had great ability and he had a certain flair that attracted a confidence and trust of underworld figures," said Harrington, the leadoff witness for Connolly's defense.
Connolly, 68, was the FBI handler of James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, leaders of Boston's violent Winter Hill Gang and rivals of the larger Mafia.
Connolly is charged with conspiracy and murder. Prosecutors accuse him of telling Bulger and Flemmi that gambling executive John Callahan might implicate them in an Oklahoma businessman's slaying.
Callahan, former president of World Jai-Alai, was found fatally shot in the trunk of his Cadillac at Miami International Airport in August 1982. Hit man James Martorano testified earlier in the trial that he killed Callahan based on Connolly's information.
A former prosecutor and several ex-FBI agents are also scheduled to testify. Prosecutors rested their case last week after calling 19 witnesses, including
several former Boston mobsters.
Harrington, appointed to the federal bench in 1988, said he was involved in the fight against organized crime beginning in 1961 as a Justice Department prosecutor under then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
Harrington said a top priority was recruiting criminals and others with direct access to the secretive Mafia hierarchy.
"It was through top echelon informants that they were able to penetrate the inner sanctum of this secret society," the judge said. "It's the business of crime on a daily basis, including murder."
FBI agents such as Connolly were sometimes "caught in the middle" between FBI guidelines requiring them to report crimes committed by top informants such as Bulger and Flemmi and the need to keep the information pipeline flowing, Harrington said.
During cross-examination, Prosecutor Michael Von Zamft focused on whether that meant criminal informants could commit crimes with impunity.
"That does not give them a license to commit murder, does it?" Von Zamft asked.
"It does not," Harrington replied.
Von Zamft also asked if it would be right for Connolly to tell Bulger and Flemmi about others who might be cooperating with law enforcement, which would make them targets for assassination.
"The answer is no," Harrington said.
Connolly faces life in prison if convicted in Callahan's slaying. He is already serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for a 2002 racketeering conviction based on his relationship with Bulger and Flemmi, which included accepting thousands of dollars in mob money.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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