Supreme Court rejects Whitey Bulger appeal

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has turned away James “Whitey” Bulger’s appeal of his racketeering convictions and life sentence.

The justices did not comment Monday in leaving in place Bulger’s convictions for playing a role in 11 murders and many other crimes.

The 87-year-old Bulger was a fugitive for 17 years until his arrest in 2011. A jury convicted him in 2013.

Bulger argued that the judge at his trial should have let him tell the jury that a now-dead federal prosecutor had granted him immunity from prosecution. The judge said Bulger hadn’t offered hard evidence that such an agreement existed.