Sep 22, 2008 6:54 pm US/Eastern
Flemmi Testifies At Bulger Mob Trial
MIAMI (WBZ) ―
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Whitey Bulger's right-hand man, Stephen Flemmi, who has been in the witness protection program while serving a life-sentence for 10 murders, testifies at John Connolly's murder trial in Miami on Sept. 22, 2008.
WBZ
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Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi in the 1970s (file image)
AP
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John Connolly in a Miami courtroom Sept. 8
WBZ
Former Boston mob boss Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi began testimony Monday at the murder trial of former FBI agent
John Connolly in Miami.
Sipping orange juice, he started to describe his involvement in mob-related killings and discuss a life of crime that began in the late 1950s.
The 74-year-old Flemmi told the court he had more than 100 meetings with Connolly over the years. He recounted the gang's long relationship with Connolly, including envelopes stuffed with $5,000 for yearly vacations and $10,000 at Christmas.
He testified that at one point, Connolly accepted over $25,000 in cash from the mob, knowing that it was drug money.
Flemmi also testified that over the years, Connolly accepted a total of $230,000 from the mobsters in exchange for protection against FBI prosecution.
"In 1983, (Connolly) says, 'I'm one of the gang,'" Flemmi said.
Flemmi said Connolly was paid so much money that at one point the mob told him to tone it down with all his expensive suits that may have appeared suspicious. Flemmi added that
James "Whitey" Bulger had even told Connolly to return a boat he had bought him.
Connolly is charged in the 1982 murder of gambling executive John Callahan in Miami. Prosecutors claim Connolly helped set up the murder with Flemmi and fugitive mobster Bulger. Connolly insists he is innocent.
Flemmi explained that he and Bulger provided Connolly and the FBI with information about rival Italian Mafia members. In return, Flemmi said Connolly would tip off the gang about pending indictments.
"We were going to be indicted," Flemmi testified. "He was going to go to John Morris, his FBI supervisor."
Morris, who oversaw the cultivation of Bulger and Flemmi as FBI informants, has been given immunity in exchange for his testimony in a previous trial. Morris is expected to testify in Connolly's trial as well.
Prosecutors withdrew a request Friday that news media take no pictures of Flemmi when he takes the stand.
Flemmi is serving a life sentence for 10 murders. He's in the witness protection program of the federal prison system.
Connolly, 68, faces life in prison if convicted of murder and conspiracy in Callahan's death. He is already serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for a racketeering conviction involving his protection of Bulger's violent Winter Hill Gang.
Flemmi has pleaded guilty to his role in Callahan's murder.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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