Notorious mob boss James 'whitey' Bulger, the man who inspired Jack Nicholson's sinister character in The Departed, has been handed two life sentences following his conviction for racketeering.

The former fugitive, 84, was found guilty in August (13) for his role in 11 of the 19 murders he was charged with, while he was acquitted of seven slayings and a conclusion on an eighth could not be reached.

Prosecutors claimed the killings all took place throughout the 1970s and 1980s, before he fled Boston, Massachusetts and went on the run. He became one of the Fbi's 10 most wanted fugitives, but was captured by law enforcement officials in California in 2011.

Bulger, who refused to testify in his two-month trial, was sentenced in Boston on Thursday (14Nov13), when Judge Denise Casper told the defendant his crimes were "heinous" and "all about money".

She added, "The testimony of human suffering that you and your associates inflicted on others was at times agonizing to hear and painful to watch."

Judge Casper then sentenced Bulger to two consecutive life sentences, in addition to another five years.

The convicted gangster has become the subject of two upcoming movies, with Matt Damon set to portray him in a film directed by pal Ben Affleck, while Johnny Depp recently dropped out of another picture, Black Mass.