James "Whitey" Bulger

"He's not missing. He knows exactly where he is." - old police saying

James, the older of the two Bulger brothers, had a rap sheet that included nineteen counts of murder and a bevy of other charges that landed him the top spot the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List right after Osama Bin Laden. The younger brother, William, was the president of the Massachusetts State Senate for seventeen years, and later became president of the University of Massachusetts. In 1995, James, also known as Whitey, went missing - to escape federal prosecution - along with his girlfriend, Catherine Greig. They had been tipped off to the planned sting by John Connelly, Jr., an FBI agent who had earlier recruited Whitey, the leader of Boston's Irish Mob, to inform on the Italian Mafia. Connelly was later incarcerated for his role in the gangster's disappearance.

Last year the reward for Whitey's capture rose to $2 million. By then he had been "missing" for fifteen years, and his brother, "Billy", had been forced to resign from his high-profile university position due to his infamous sibling: Billy admitted to a grand jury that he had received a phone call from Whitey soon after he vanished. In 2003, under great pressure from the then-Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, and others, Billy stepped down as president of the UMass system. But he never revealed Whitey's whereabouts or any other information that would have been helpful for locating his brother.

Ironically it was not through Billy, but through Whitey's girlfriend, Catherine, that the FBI finally got its big break. Instead of focusing on Whitey, the FBI switched its tactics to disseminate information on her as a lover of dogs, plastic surgery, beauty salons, and regular dental hygiene. This led to the tip that resulted in their arrest in Santa Monica, CA, on June 22, 2011. Since then, Catherine has been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to harbor and conceal a fugitive from justice. She faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

As for Whitey, his infiltration of the FBI plus the sheer length of time that he was able to evade federal authorities have embarrassed the FBI. Since being taken into custody, he has boasted about his corruption of six FBI agents and 20 police officers. It is thought that Whitey might implicate local, state, and federal law-enforcement personnel during the course of his trial for murder and other crimes.

Whitey and Billy were together in a federal courtroom in Boston on June 24, 2011, for a brief period of time, during which the siblings enjoyed a bit of a reunion: Whitey smiled and mouthed the word "hi" to his brother, who was seated in the courtroom. Billy smiled back.

Whitey, 81, faces a life sentence.

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