A former mob hitman is set to be sentenced for the prison murder of mobster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A former Mafia hitman likely will be sentenced for the fatal beating of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger after he reached a deal with prosecutors to change his plea from not guilty.

Federal inmate Fotios “Freddy” Geas is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Northern West Virginia on Friday.

Prosecutors said Geas repeatedly struck the 89-year-old Bulger in the head with a lock attached to a belt just hours after Bulger arrived at the Hazelton Penitentiary in West Virginia from another Florida prison in October 2018.

Bulger, who led Boston’s largely Irish mob in the 1970s and 1980s, was an FBI informant who betrayed his gang’s chief rival, the bureau said. Bulger has vehemently denied ever being a government informant.

Bulger became one of the country’s most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994. He was captured at age 81 after more than 16 years on the run and convicted in 2013 of a string of 11 murders and dozens of other gang crimes.

Geas, who authorities say was a mob hitman, is already serving a life sentence for previous violent crimes. He was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in Bulger’s death, each of which carries a sentence of up to life in prison. Last year, the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty.

Court records do not indicate how Geas will plead, but the court has scheduled sentencing for the same plea hearing. Plea agreements for Geas and two other Hazelton inmates were announced May 13, and an attorney for Geas did not oppose the government’s motion.

Another inmate, Massachusetts gangster Paul J. DeCologero, was sentenced in August to more than four years in prison for assault. Prosecutors said he acted as a lookout while Geas beat Bulger. A third inmate, Sean McKinnon, pleaded guilty in June to lying to FBI agents and received no additional prison time.

An inmate witness told the grand jury that DeCologero told him Bulger was a “snitch” and that they planned to kill him once he entered their unit.