BOSTON — The Florida Commission on Offender Review Wednesday denied notorious Boston mobster Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi petition for early release.
Flemmi is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1982 murder of Boston businessman John Callahan in Miami, Florida.
Stephen Flemmi himself did not speak at the parole hearing, which was conducted over a conference call.
But his daughter, Jeanette Benedetti, urged the panel to release her father, claiming he is a change man who regrets his criminal past.
“When I speak with him in person, we speak about his crimes. They were horrific. But he has gone into detail with me how remorseful he is, " Benedetti told the board. “I have seen how remorseful he is for the families. That’s hard for me to hear. But the change in him has really been overwhelming.”
Stephen Flemmi, along with criminal partner James “Whitey” Bulger, ruled Boston’s underworld for decades. Unknown to their criminal rivals, Bulger and Flemmi were Top Echelon Informants for FBI Agent John Connolly. Connolly was convicted for his role in Bulger and Flemmi’s criminal enterprise and was recently was granted compassionate released in Florida.
Whitey Bulger, after spending 16 years on the run was captured in Santa Monica, California in 2011 and was murdered in a federal prison in 2018.
In addition to the Callahan murder, Flemmi is serving time in federal prison for his role in more than a dozen other murders, most of them in New England.
Among Flemmi’s victims was his girlfriend, Debra Davis. She was strangled and her remains found nearly twenty years later, buried in a marsh on the Neponset River in Quincy.
Debra’s brother, Steven Davis, was the lone voice of opposition to Flemmi’s parole Wednesday.
“This guy doesn’t even deserve to breathe. I just hope the parole board looks at everything he’s convicted of, and the innocent people he murdered. It’s uncalled for. He’s like a modern-day Charles Manson,” told the Florida Commission.
In a unanimous 3-0 decision, the Commission voted to deny Flemmi’s parole.
Flemmi, 87, can try again in seven years when he is 93.
Or, he simply gain his freedom once his federal sentence is completed.
Commissioners estimated Flemmi will complete his federal sentence on May 4, 2218.
At that time, Flemmi will be one month shy of his 284th birthday.
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