Date: 07/12/1995 Page: 1
Author: By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff
Section: METRO
Lottery officials said yesterday they plan to cut another $480,020 check on July 26 for Michael C. Linskey, the South Boston laborer who said Bulger went in with him and two other friends on a Mass Millions season ticket that won a $14.3 million jackpot in 1991.
Under Lottery rules, the single check goes to Linskey, who then is responsible for distributing to Bulger, a reputed mobster, his one-sixth share of the pot. Bulger's friend, Kevin Weeks, and Linskey's brother Patrick, of Hanover, also get one-sixth shares, according to Michael Linskey's version of how they jointly bought the ticket. Michael Linskey gets half the winnings.
"The onus falls to Mr. Linskey to pay Patrick, James and Kevin," said Lottery spokeswoman Deirdre Coyle. "We cut the check for that amount, and then it is in Michael's hands."
But Linskey may face legal problems if he does anything other than hold onto Bulger's share until Bulger is legally able to collect it from him. Transferring funds to a fugitive might be construed as aiding and abetting a flight from justice.
"Linskey may be in a difficult bind," said Robert Ullmann, a former federal prosecutor who worked on the Bulger case before becoming a private attorney in Boston. "If he gets the money to Whitey, he may be breaking federal law, and if he keeps the money, he may have problems of a different kind" -- a reference to the dangers of crossing Bulger.
Linskey could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Bulger has been on the lam since just before his indictment in January on racketeering and extortion charges. "If he walks in here" to collect his winnings, Coyle noted dryly, "we'll let the appropriate people know."
Coyle said it is standard Lottery practice, when multiple people claim ownership of a winning ticket, to cut only a single check, either to one of the winners or directly to a trust established for the purpose.
That would change only if there were a court order, Coyle said.
Joy Fallon, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Donald K. Stern, said she could not comment on any aspect of Bulger's Lottery prize, including what Linskey legally can or cannot do with Bulger's share. She also declined to comment on whether federal authorities are monitoring what Linskey does with the money.
This month's check will be the Lottery's fifth payment to the two Linskeys, Bulger and Weeks, but the first since Bulger became a fugitive. All payments are made with taxes taken out already.
Bulger disappeared shortly before federal agents and State Police, holding sealed criminal complaints, mounted an effort on Jan. 4 to arrest him, his right-hand man Stephen (The Rifleman) Flemmi and reputed New England Mafia boss Francis (Cadillac Frank) Salemme. All three had been under surveillance for days before, but authorities managed to grab only Flemmi.
There has been intense speculation over the possible whereabouts of Bulger, who is the brother of Senate President William M. Bulger (D-South Boston), but so far no reported sightings.
Bulger has been called the most powerful non-Mafia organized crime leader in Boston. In 1986 a presidential crime commission called him a "reputed killer, bank robber and drug trafficker." However, he has been convicted of no crime since 1956, when he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on bank robbery charges. He was released in 1965.