Ex-FBI Agent Pleads Guilty to Perjury in Whitey Bulger Trial

Boston, MA - A former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who presented himself as an expert during the trial of Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger pleaded guilty Monday to charges of lying under oath.

Robert Fitzpatrick, 76, testified in Bulger's case and related court appearances on multiple occasions, and in 2012 co-wrote the book "Betrayal, Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought To Bring Him Down."

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The book jacket talks Fitzpatrick up as "a poor kid from the slums (who) grew up to become a stellar FBI agent and challenge the country’s deadliest gangsters. Relentless in his desire to catch, prosecute, and convict Whitey Bulger, Fitzpatrick fought the nation’s most determined cop-gangster battle since Melvin Purvis hunted, confronted, and killed John Dillinger."

On Monday, however, Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to six counts of perjury and six counts of obstruction of justice, after allegedly misleading jurors and overstating his professional credentials.

The indictment puts a serious dent in Fitzpatrick's persona, alleging he “falsely held himself out as a whistleblower who tried to end the FBI’s relationship with Bulger" for the past 18 years. Prosecutors suggested he was trumping up those claims to try to sell more copies of his book, the Associated Press reports.

Bulger himelf is now serving out his days in prison, convicted in 11 murders.

For Fitzpatrick, the prosecution and defense have agreed to a sentence of two years' probation, according to the AP.

Fitzpatrick's sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

>> Image via Forge Books, used here under the Fair Use doctrine