James "Whitey" Bulger, the Boston mob leader in the 1970s and 1980s who is serving life in federal prison after his 2013 convictions connected to 11 killings, wrote a letter to three students working on a history project saying he wasted his life.
As part of the National History Day competition, three teenaged girls from Apponequet High School in Lakeville, Massachusetts, wrote Bulger,
reported NECN on Sunday, and were surprised to get a letter back from him.
"My life was wasted and spent foolishly, brought shame + suffering on my parents and siblings and will end soon," Bulger, 85, wrote to the teens in the letter dated Feb. 24. "Advice is a cheap commodity some seek it from me about crime — I know only one thing for sure — If you want to make crime pay — 'Go to Law School.'"
"We decided to do a negative leader, so someone who is different from a president or a positive role model," Apponequet student Michaela Arguin told NECN, adding that the teens asked Bulger about his legacy.
In his letter, Bulger said his younger brother William M. Bulger was a better example of leadership,
noted the Huffington Post. William Bulger became an attorney and the longest serving president of the Massachusetts state senate,
reported the New York Times.
The Times noted that the younger Bulger was forced to resign from his position at the University of Massachusetts after refusing to cooperate with the investigation into his brother's activities.
Bulger, whose larger-than-life crime career was the inspiration for one movie, with another biopic – "Black Mass" starring Johnny Depp – waiting for release, is serving two consecutive life sentences on racketeering charges connected with the 11 murders, according to
WBUR-FM. He is currently appealing his convictions.
Bulger's attorneys claim he didn't get a fair trial because the judge prevented him from saying that a now-deceased prosecutor promised him immunity for his crimes. Federal prosecutors have dismissed Bulger's claims.
Bulger was on the run from law enforcement for 16 years before he was found in Santa Monica, California.