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BOSTON GLOBE
JUDGE SAYS HE'LL MULL BAIL IF ACCUSED DISCLOSES ASSETS
Author: Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff Date: 02/19/2000
A federal judge concluded yesterday that it's unlikely that reputed South Boston gangster Kevin O'Neil will flee to evade a federal racketeering trial and said he'll consider freeing the longtime associate of fugitive crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger on bail if he discloses all his assets to the court.US District Judge Richard G. Stearns gave O'Neil's lawyer 10 days to report all O'Neil's financial holdings and provide information on the backgrounds of five homeowners who have offered to pledge their property to secure O'Neil's release.
Stearns also warned the homeowners that the court will seize their houses if O'Neil is released on bail and then takes off.
Some 40 friends and relatives of O'Neil, 51, of Quincy, packed the courtroom to show their support for the bar owner, real estate developer, and father of two teenagers who has been held without bail since his arrest Nov. 17, along with another Bulger associate, Kevin Weeks.
"He's not going to strand his family," said James H. Budreau, the lawyer who represents O'Neil. He said his client is determined to fight the charges against him.
"The fact that people are willing to subject their permanent residences to possible forfeiture indicates he's not a risk of flight," Budreau argued.
The 29-count indictment alleges that O'Neil was involved in racketeering,extortion, and money-laundering as a member of "the Bulger Group" for the past 24 years. He's accused of extorting a South Boston realtor in the late 1980's and funneling money to Bulger through a local liquor store.
Assistant US Attorney Samuel W. Buell urged Stearns to consider why O'Neil "is asking to be released on the heavily mortgaged properties of people with modest incomes when he's a real estate developer and has other properties he hasn't identified."
While Budreau spoke of O'Neil's community activism and charitable deeds, such as walking to raise money for AIDS research and teaching children to read, Buell focused on his alleged criminal exploits.
"He's also participated in this particular neighborhood in a fashion that is consistent with his involvement in an organized crime group that has dominated the affairs of South Boston for a period of 20 to 30 years," Buell said.