The Arrest of James Bulger
Author: Jon Buscemi
Black Mass
The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob By Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill
The recent capture of James "Whitey'' Bulger after 16 years on the run has garnered a lot of attention.
But for Ray Jennings III, a Hingham resident who has been a general practice attorney at Jennings, Jennings & Fishman in Weymouth,
interest in the Bulger case began long before last month's arrest.
He grew up hearing about the infamous Bulger and his involvement in extortion, drug trafficking, and violence from both his
grandfather, Ray Jennings, a lieutenant in the Boston Police Department, and his father, Ray Jennings Jr., who was a special agent for
the FBI in the late 1960s. Like Bulger, Ray Jennings Jr. grew up on the streets of South Boston.
Jennings said "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob,'' a 2000 book written by Boston
Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill, struck a personal chord.
It chronicles the rise of Bulger, who ran with the Shamrocks Gang as a tough-guy teen, graduated to foot soldier for the Winter Hill
Gang, and ultimately became one of Boston's most feared and dangerous criminals.
"I used to hear my grandfather talk about life on the streets of Boston and how difficult it was for police to witness the brutal and corrupt
goings on of Bulger,'' Jennings said.
He said he was drawn by the book's local settings, like the conversation between Bulger and FBI agent John Connolly at Wollaston
Beach. "I couldn't help but be interested,'' he said.
In "Black Mass,'' Lehr and O'Neill combine their skills in investigative reporting to document the unbelievable but true story of the cozy,
painfully corrupt and secret relationship between the FBI, Bulger, and his sidekick, Stephen "The Rifleman'' Flemmi, a relationship that
went on for decades.
Connolly, a childhood friend of Bulger's, was awed by his relationship with the legendary wise guy, "Black Mass'' reports, and began to
use his contact with Bulger as proof of his prowess within the FBI.
Bulger and Connolly would meet and sometimes dine together, according to Lehr and O'Neill, and Whitey would pass along tidbits of
information that helped the FBI to arrest enemies of the Bulger gang. Meanwhile, the FBI allegedly turned a blind eye to the murders,
extortion, loan sharking, and drug dealing that helped Bulger and Flemmi expand their power base.
Over time, this "unholy'' alliance between Connolly and Bulger permanently shifted the balance of criminal power in Southie from the
Italian Mafia to the Irish, the book says.
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