Howie Winter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Howie Winter (b. March 17, 1929, Roxbury, Massachusetts) is a half Irish half German mobster from Somerville, Massachusetts and the second leader of the infamous Winter Hill Gang.
Winter was the right-hand man to the originator of the gang Buddy McLean and took over the racketts when Buddy was killed during the Irish Gang Wars of the 1960s.
James "Whitey" Bulger replaced Winter as leader of the gang when Bulger informed on him to the FBI. Howie was imprisoned due to Bulger's informing and served nearly a decade in prison.
A few years after he was released, he was caught dealing drugs. When the FBI informed him that Whitey had previously "snitched" on him and offered Winter a deal if he would inform on Bulger, Howie refused the deal telling the FBI he was no "rat", despite facing another decade behind bars at age 65.
Winter was eventually released from prison and still lives in Massachusetts.
[edit] Further reading
- Bloom, Robert M. Ratting: The Use and Abuse of Informants in the American Justice System. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. ISBN 0-275-96818-9
- Matera, Dary. FBI's Ten Most Wanted. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN 0-06-052435-9
- Willis, Clint (ed.) Wise Guys: Stories of Mobsters from Jersey to Vegas. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003. ISBN 1-56025-498-X
[edit] References
- English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-059002-5
[edit] External links
- Howie Winter
- AmericanMafia.com - Mob Monthly, A Round Up of the Usual Suspects by John William Touhy
