John Morris (FBI)
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John Morris (born 1947) is an American former
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agent who was charged with
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
for his involvement with
James "Whitey" Bulger James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish mob group based in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, northwe ...
, Steve Flemmi and the
Winter Hill Gang The Winter Hill Gang was a loose confederation of American organized crime figures in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It was generally considered an Irish mob organization, with most gang members and the leadership consisting predominantly of ...
.{{Cite web , last=Herald , first=Laurel J. Sweet {{! Boston , date=2013-07-01 , title=Ex-FBI agent denies Whitey offered to 'get rid of' wife , url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2013/07/01/ex-fbi-agent-denies-whitey-offered-to-get-rid-of-wife/ , access-date=2024-03-08 , website=Boston Herald , language=en-US He was the direct supervisor of John Connolly, who was convicted of
racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
,
obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
and
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
.{{Cite web , last=Levenson , first=Eric , title=Disgraced FBI agent John Morris gets off really easy in Black Mass , url=https://www.boston.com/culture/movies/2015/09/18/disgraced-fbi-agent-john-morris-gets-off-really-easy-in-black-mass/ , access-date=2024-03-08 , website=www.boston.com , language=en-US He and Connolly compiled much of Bulger's 700-page FBI
informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...
file.{{Cite web , date=2013-07-01 , title=Ex-FBI agent apologizes to victims at Bulger trial , url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ex-fbi-agent-apologizes-victims-bulger-trial-flna6C10505322 , access-date=2024-03-08 , website=NBC News , language=en Morris met Bulger for the first time in 1978, when Morris hosted a dinner at his home in
Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...
. Morris was put in charge of the Organized Crime Squad at the FBI's Boston field office in December 1977.{{cite book , last1=Lehr , first1=O'Neill , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=84oedlD2uNAC&q=whitey+bulger+killeen+out+of+warnings+no+business&pg=PA30 , title=Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI, and a Devil's Deal , last2=Dick , first2=Gerard , date=2001 , publisher=
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, isbn=9781610391689 , location=New York City , access-date=September 22, 2015
Morris not only proved himself unable to rein in Connolly's protection of Bulger, but even began assisting him. In February 1979, federal prosecutors indicted numerous members of the Winter Hill Gang, including boss
Howie Winter Howard Thomas Winter (March 17, 1929 – November 12, 2020) was an American mobster who was a Crime boss, boss of the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish mob group in Somerville, Massachusetts, a northwestern suburb of Boston. Early life Winter was born ...
, for fixing horse races. Bulger and
Stephen Flemmi Stephen Joseph Flemmi (born June 9, 1934) is an American gangster and convicted murderer and was a close associate of Winter Hill Gang boss Whitey Bulger. Beginning in 1975, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investiga ...
were originally going to be part of this indictment, but Connolly and Morris were able to persuade prosecutor Jeremiah T. O'Sullivan to drop the charges against them at the last minute. Bulger and Flemmi were instead named as unindicted co-conspirators. By 1982, Morris was "thoroughly compromised", to the point of having Bulger purchase plane tickets for his then-girlfriend Debbie Noseworthy to visit him in
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
while he was being trained for drug investigations. Even after 1983, when Morris was transferred to lead the Boston FBI's anti-drug task force, he remained an accomplice to Connolly and Bulger. In an attempt to protect himself, Morris disclosed the FBI's protection of Bulger in an off-the-record interview with the ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' in 1988. He was later granted
immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...
in exchange for a
testimony Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. Law In the law, testimon ...
against Connolly, who was jailed for forty years for second-degree murder. He was released in 2021 on medical grounds. Morris was played by
David Harbour David Kenneth Harbour (born April 10, 1975) is an American actor. His accolades include nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He began his career acting in Shakespearean theatre productions. Aft ...
in the 2015 movie ''Black Mass''.


Personal life

Morris was married twice; firstly to Rebecca,{{Cite book , last=Reform , first=United States Congress House Committee on Government , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UzPjmOiK9QMC&dq=john+morris+fbi+wife&pg=PA392 , title=Everything Secret Degenerates: The FBI's Use of Murderers as Informants : Third Report, Together with Minority and Additional Minority Views , date=2004 , publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office , pages=392 , language=en then to his former secretary, with whom he had a decade-long affair.


References

{{Reflist, 30em {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, John 1947 births Living people Winter Hill Gang Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Law enforcement officials from Boston