'Whitey' Bulger's defense lawyer pledges appeal

BOSTON (AP) - A defense attorney says former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger will appeal his conviction in a string of 11 killings and other underworld crimes.

The 83-year-old Bulger faces life in prison after being convicted Monday of committing or playing a role in the killings during the 1970s and '80s.

Bulger has claimed that a now-dead federal prosecutor gave him immunity. Defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. says Bulger intends to appeal, because the judge didn't let him present an immunity defense.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz says she hopes the verdict marks "the end of an era that was very ugly in Boston's history."

Bulger was one of the nation's most-wanted fugitives after he fled Boston ahead of a 1994 indictment. He was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

Cox Media Group