Whitey Bulger Trial: Boston mob boss's items will hit the auction block. The profits will be split by the families of the mobster's victims. "Whitey" Bulger's life was the inspiration for Martin Scorsese's "The Departed," which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2006.

Whitey Bulger Trial: James 'Whitey' Bulger's possessions are hitting the auction block. Personal jewelry, clothing, and other items that belonged to the Boston crime boss will be auctioned off. The profits will be split among the families of his victims.

"Whitey" Bulger, 84, was convicted of 11 murders, extortion and drug dealing during the time he was boss of the Winter Hill crime gang in Boston during the 1970s and '80s. Bulger lammed it out of Boston in 1994 after being tipped off that he was going to be arrested.

James "Whitey' Bulger was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in June 2011. The Boston mob boss spent 16 years on the run. The Boston Globe reported that the US Marshals Service will auction off Bulger's belongings. The items were found in Bulger's California apartment after he was arrested two years ago.

Federal prosecutors told The Boston Globe reported that the items belonged to Bulger and his girlfriend. Whitey Bulger's belonging have been kept in storage in Massachusetts. They are being appraised. Officials reported that the highest-value items include a claddagh ring that they estimate to be worth around $48,000. A replica of the 1986 Stanley Cup championship ring has been estimated to be worth about $3,000.

In August, Bulger was found guilty of 11 of the 19 killings he was accused of. He was also convicted on dozens of other gangland crimes, including shakedowns and money laundering. Whitey Bulger was sentenced to life in prison.
Other Bulger belonging that will wind up on the auction block include a boxing mannequin that was wearing a hat. The mannequin was situated in a window to make it appear that someone was keeping lookout. Also included were binoculars, a telescope, camouflage clothing, nine fedoras, 27 pairs of sunglasses, ceramic poodle salt and pepper shakers, assorted porcelain cats and hundreds of books, many with Bulger's handwritten notes scrawled in the margins. Bulger also had a McCain/Palin campaign button and a God Bless America poster.

First Assistant US Attorney Jack Pirozzolo told the Boston Globe "The reality is there are lots of people who would be willing to pay money for some or all of the contents of that apartment, and that money is going to victims and victims' families. So we want to do what we can to get as much money as we can for them."

Patricia Donahue said "If they can sell anything he owned down to a ballpoint pen, then good luck to them. I'm sure the victims could use the money." Donahue's husband, Michael Donahue, was shot to death by Bulger in 1982. He was giving a ride home to a man who was being targeted.

Whitey Bulger rose to power with the help of corrupt Boston FBI agents in Boston. A lot of the testimony against the mob boss came from admitted underworld figures, including hitmen, bookies and extortionists. Defense lawyer Jay Carney said said their testimony was elicited by "obscene deals made with certain witnesses." Jurors heard from 63 government witnesses during the five week trial. Serial killers like Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi and hitman John Martorano testified against Bulger.

Defense lawyer Jay Carney said Bulger knew as soon as he was arrested that he would die (in prison) or on a guerney" with a lethal injection as a condemned killer." The lawyer continued that Bulger was "pleased by the outcome. It was important to him that the government corruption be exposed and important to him that people see the deals the government was able to make with certain people." Carney said that Bulger would appeal his verdict. 

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said "Today is a day many in [Boston] thought would never come. So many people's lives were so terribly harmed by the criminal actions of Bulger and his crew, and today's conviction does not alter that harm, and it doesn't lessen it. However, we hope that [the victims] find some degree of comfort in the fact that today has come and Bulger is being held accountable for his horrific crimes."

Whitey Bulger, who is alleged to have been the leader of Boston's Winter Hill Gang during the 1970s and '80s,  fled Boston in 1994 and spent 16 years on the run. Bulger had been  indicted in 1994, but he fled prosecution after his corrupt FBI handler John Connolly tipped him off to his pending arrest. He was one of the most wanted fugitives in the U.S. Bulger was caught in Santa Monica, Calif. in 2011. According to testimony from an arresting FBI agent federal investigators were led by Bulger to a stash of 30 weapons and $822,000 in cash by the accused mobster after his arrest. Prosecutors allege that Bulger had been an FBI informant and that he was protected by corrupt agents between 1975 and 1990.