FBI agent admits he lied in Whitey Bulger testimony

At the trial, former FBI assistant special agent in charge Robert Fitzpatrick, 76, had claimed he had tried to sever the FBI's ties with the Boston gangster who once served as an informant and target him for prosecution but had been overruled by his superiors.

Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty on all 12 counts against him.

"Mr Fitzpatrick's plea of guilty on all counts makes clear that there are consequences to lying in federal court," US Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement.

"In this case, the fact that the defendant was a high-ranking former law enforcement official made his conduct even more egregious."

As assistant special agent in charge, Fitzpatrick supervised the organized crime program in Boston between 1981 and 1986 -- a period during which Bulger is accused of having been involved in eight murders, while serving as an FBI informant.

If US District Judge F. Dennis Saylor accepts the plea agreement, Fitzpatrick faces 24 months' probation, a $12,500 fine and a special assessment of $1,200.

Sentencing was set for August 5.

Bulger, 86, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of 11 murders. He had been on the run for years before his arrest.

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