Plea deal for Boston's 'Cadillac Frank'

BOSTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Former Boston mobster Francis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme is expected to get a plea bargain that will have him out of prison in less than a year.

The agreement was revealed Tuesday at a federal court hearing on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements, which stemmed from the Whitey Bulger investigation.

Salemme, 74, had been cooperating in the probe of Bulger, the former mob boss who remains a fugitive; however he drew the wrath of the Justice Department when he failed to tell the FBI that he had witnessed a mob murder carried out by his son in 1993.

The Boston Globe said Salemme faced 51-63 months in federal prison; however his lawyers and the feds agreed to a plea. Prosecutors will ask for five years in prison when Salemme is sentenced in April, the report said. With time served factored in, the onetime gangster should be home by Christmas.