A retired FBI agent finally faced his day of reckoning today for his role in a 1982 mob hit.
A judge sentenced a rogue FBI agent to 40 years in prison on Thursday for the 1982 mob-related killing of a witness who was about to testify against Boston mob members, court officials said.
Disgraced ex-FBI agent John Connolly Jr. "crossed over to the dark side," said Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Stanford Blake. The sentence will run consecutively to a 10-year racketeering sentence.
Connolly, known as "Zip," was sentenced for his role in the death of gambling executive John Callahan. He was assigned to monitor the activities of the Winter Hill gang and its leader, Whitey Bulger. However, apparently Connolly had been on Winter Hill's payroll for years--getting a total of $235,000 to shield Bulger from prosecution.
According to prosecutors, Connolly tipped off Bulger that Callahan was going to implicate them in a 1981 murder. Bulger, the FBI's second most-wanted man, then ordered Callahan whacked. Callahan ended up as a bullet-riddled corpse in the trunk of a Cadillac at Miami International Airport.
Connolly was already serving 10 years in prison for racketeering charges; his 40-year sentence will run consecutively with that, making it very likely he will die in prison. Good riddance.