Who is Freddy Geas? James 'Whitey' Bulger’s accused killer in solitary since 2018, son says release to gen pop
On the night of October 30, 2018, reputed Boston mob boss James 'Whitey' Bulger was brutally beaten to death. Out of the three men accused of the murder, one still remains in solitary confinement ever since "almost immediately after" the attack. Identified as Freddy Geas, the man's son has now reportedly urged law enforcement to move his father back to the general population.
Geas and his lawyer Daniel Kelly have filed requests for his transfer from the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton's special housing unit in West Virginia. They have also requested an explanation as to why Geas is still in solitary confinement or on what grounds his pleas get denied, the attorney told Fox News. According to Kelly, Geas's latest application for transfer was as recent as two months ago. He was denied once again and told he was not eligible for release from the unit also known as 'SHU'. Although Geas has applied again, Kelly tells the outlet that his client deserves more than just "a blanket denial."
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"He's been housed in the SHU now since almost immediately after the incident. Again, using their own internal guidelines, they have to do periodic reviews. They've done none that we can tell. We've requested them, they denied our requests," Kelly said. "They've told us to file Freedom of Information Acts. We've done that. So they've kind of stonewalled us on essentially everything regarding his status."
Who is Freddy Geas?
The 54-year-old Fotios 'Freddy' Geas was one of at least two inmates suspected in Bulger's murder after the notorious South-Boston-based Winter Hill Gang boss was bludgeoned with a lock in a sock while he was in his wheelchair. The incident had happened almost immediately after arriving at the high-security facility in Preston County, where he has stayed ever since, in solitary confinement.
Geas was described as an American mobster involved with the Genovese crime family. With the gang based out of New York City, the former mafia hitman worked from Springfield, Massachusetts, often with his older brother Ty. One of his two adult children, identified as Alex Geas, told Fox News that prison employees are messing with his father. He claims they redact large chunks of letters that he sends to Geas, withholding books from him, and sometimes even charging his newly arrived cellmate for post-office box information in secret.
Geas's family hadn't heard from him for a month after he was moved to solitary; now he gets to make two phone calls monthly, on the first and 15th of each month, when he usually calls his 26-year-old son, or his 27-year-old daughter, or his attorney Kelly. "Enough is enough," says Geas's son Alex. "I challenge the prison to either formally indict him or to transfer him, because this cannot keep going on like this."
The murder of Whitey Bulger
Bulger, a ruthless mob boss, was in the same prison after being convicted in 2013 for several crime involvements, including 11 murders. Reports and court papers have identified the murder weapon used to kill Bulger as a lock in a sock - all items available for commissary purchase at the prison for less than $10. Bulger, who was 89 at the time of his death, was found with his eyes nearly gouged out and his tongue almost cut off. His death was the third one in 40 days at the then-severely understaffed prison.
Bulger, who had been housed in facilities in Florida and Tucson, Arizona, was dubbed a "snitch" and became infamous for being an FBI informant and allegedly ratting out a rival gang. His mother filed a lawsuit against the BOP in 2020 accusing them of failing to protect Bulger. Geas was in prison at the same time after being convicted for the 2003 murders of a Massachusetts crime boss and associate. Alex, however, insists his father's involvement in Bulger's death has no substance to them.
"That’s all they are – they’re allegations," Alex told the outlet, maintaining his father's innocence. "This is a bunch of the headline grabs. I know it's a really easy story for people, and it's pretty ridiculous that he's been in the SHU two and a half years." Private investigator Ted McDonough who knew Geas told The Boston Globe after Bulger's murder "Freddy hated rats. Freddy hated guys who abused women. Whitey was a rat who killed women. It’s probably that simple."
Did Freddy Geas kill Whitey Bulger?
Speaking to Fox News, Kelly insisted his client's disdain for informants is not uncommon. "People that are associated with criminality, criminal acts, organized crime, as he's often been alleged to have been involved in – and convicted of, quite frankly – nobody in that life has any love for informants," he said. "He was convicted because his closest friend turned informant on him and his brother. So, even before that happened, there was no love lost for informants based upon his chosen vocation. Geas has not been charged in connection with Bulger’s death. No one has. I think it's in his best interest not to even deny it. Just to, no comment, we're not even going to go down that road."
Kelly and Geas had known each other for over 10-12 years, even before Bulger's murder. The attorney says that following the mob boss's death, they haven't addressed the murder much either as their phone calls and letters have always been "closely monitored." He said, "I don't have any faith in the BOP to honor the attorney-client privilege. So, we really haven't spoken a lot about it, actually." They however talk mostly about "our kids, mutual friends, sports, the Patriots … he likes NFL."
After Bulger's death, Kelly noted how Geas acted in "typical Freddie fashion." Which meant, recalled the attorney, "He made a joke and said, ‘Apparently some old guy died and now they think I did it.'" Meanwhile, "the death of Whitey Bulger remains under investigation. No other information can be released at this time to protect the integrity of that investigation," acting US Attorney Randolph J Bernard of the Northern District of West Virginia told Fox News. As for the FBI, they haven't interviewed Geas "because he just refused to talk," Kelly claims. "He wouldn’t answer any questions even if I was there – he just doesn’t answer questions. That’s it."
Kelly's focus however is on getting Geas out of solitary confinement. "This is America, it's not a third-world country, and we're supposed to treat everyone with respect, even those of us who have been convicted … He's a father, he's got children and he loves to communicate with and is trying to do so," Kelly said. "He's not asking for a lot. He's asking for a couple of phone calls and to not be shoved into a closet indefinitely. What he's requesting is fairly minimal. It's the bare minimum of human decency."