Lawyer: Bulger Was Never An FBI Informant

Accused former Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger was never an informant for the FBI, his lawyer claimed in court Wednesday.

Attorney J.W. Carney told a federal judge in Boston that though Bulger wasn't an informant, he was still granted immunity by a U.S. attorney, and the matter should go before a jury.

Federal prosecutors had previously called Bulger's immunity claim "absurd" and asked the judge to decide the issue before trial, which is set to begin June 6 in U.S. District Court.

Bulger, the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, is awaiting trial in a sweeping racketeering indictment accusing him of participating in 19 murders.

Bulger, 83, fled Boston in 1994 and was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives until his capture in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

With reporting by the WBUR Newsroom and The Associated Press