Bulger claims immunity to commit crimes, hearing planned

BOSTON (AP) - A judge is set to hear arguments on reputed Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger's claim that he was given immunity to commit crimes while he was an FBI informant.

The 83-year-old Bulger is awaiting trial in a racketeering indictment accusing him of participating in 19 murders. He claims a federal prosecutor gave him immunity for his crimes while he was providing the FBI information on local leaders of the Mafia, his gang's main rivals.

Bulger's lawyers want to use his immunity claim as a defense at his trial. But federal prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns to decide the issue before trial.

Stearns has scheduled a hearing Wednesday.

Bulger fled Boston in 1994 and was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives until his capture in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

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