Mob Boss Whitey Bulger — Chained and Shackled

6/30/2011 3:08 PM PDT by TMZ Staff  

Flanked by an armed military escort … and with his hands and feet locked in chains … 81-year-old mobster Whitey Bulger emerged from a Coast Guard chopper in Plymouth, Mass. today after facing off with a Boston judge.

Bulger —  a longtime staple on the FBI’s Most Wanted List — had just appeared in U.S. District Court in south Boston, where a judge granted his request to be represented by a public defender.

Bulger has been charged with multiple murder counts, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, narcotics distribution and money-laundering charges stemming from his role as the leader of Boston’s infamous Winter Hill gang.

Bulger had been on the run for 16 years … before federal agents located the mobster in Santa Monica, CA — where he had been living a pretty chill life with his girlfriend.

FYI — Jack Nicholson‘s character in “The Departed” was allegedly inspired by Bulger’s life.

Tags: Whitey Bulger, Celebrity Justice