Former Springfield Mayor Booted from Bulger Witness List

Former Springfield Mayor Michael Albano will not be testifying at the murder trial of accused Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. The judge on the case excluded Albano Thursday as a possible defense witness, saying his testimony about FBI corruption was not relevant. Albano says he’s disappointed, but not surprised he won’t take the stand.

“Part of the reason I was excluded is because the government has already stated that the FBI was corrupt, their agents were corrupt. In my view they didn’t go far enough because the corruption went into the U.S. Attorney’s Office, they were part parcel of it,” Albano says. 

Albano, a current Governor’s Councilor, was a member of the state parole board in the early 1980’s. He says during that time FBI agents tried to pressure him to vote against commuting the sentences of three men convicted of a Boston murder. Albano has said previously the agents were withholding information which would have cleared the men in order to protect an informant. The murder convictions were later thrown out.