THE BROTHERS BULGER by Howie Carr

Despite occasional lapses into tabloid prose, this is a pretty competent bio of the two brothers: Billy, a Massachusetts politician who became President of the State Senate and one of the most powerful politicos in the state; and older brother Whitey, the notorious mob leader.
Billy, called "the corrupt midget" by his foes, probably wasn't more corrupt than the average Mass. state rep (which is to say, pretty corrupt). Apparently his lust for power didn't leave him a lot of time for stealing. Except for having to return some money he made on a weird real estate deal, Billy was content to profit from steering state business to his law firm, accepting junkets, etc. After leaving public office, he was appointed president of UMass, which he treated as an extension of the State House--patronage, padded payrolls, etc. He was finally forced out after various investigations, but about the only charge that stuck was lying about not having a phone conversation with his brother. Before he left UMass, Billy managed to vastly jack up his pension, termination allowance, etc. A regular good old boy. His is an interesting political story, but not out of the ordinary by Mass. standards.

Whitey got to the top of the Boston crime heap by being less stupid and more ruthless than his Mafia counterparts. He also cultivated several spectacularly corrupt FBI agents. In return for feeding them tidbits of info about other criminals, the agents protected Whitey's rackets, tipped him to investigations and potential rat-outs, and may have killed for him. Later he simply paid them off, and got more favors. Eventually, Whitey's FBI connection enabled him to eliminate all opposition by having the taxpayers, in the persons of his FBI pals, kill or arrest them. Brother Billy's political influence helped the FBI guys to get high-paid jobs at Boston Edison when they left the Bureau.

But, other than pulling a few strings for Whitey when he was (infrequently) jailed, Billy was smart enough to keep arms-length from his notorious brother. He tut-tutted and blarneyed away questions about their filial connection, but it never seriously hurt him.

Tipped off by the FBI and others, Whitey took it on the lam in the 90's and hasn't surfaced since. He stashed away plenty of money, and apparently is living well. Billy is fat, happy and retired on those overblown pensions and perks. I still believe crime doesn't pay, but "The Brothers Bulger" is stressing my convictions.