Man Gets Life In Prison Without Parole For Murder Of Bulger Extortion Victim

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WOBURN, Mass. (CBS/AP) — Convicted killer William Camuti was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The Middlesex County District Court issued the sentence after a jury Wednesday found Camuti guilty in the 2013 poisoning death of an alleged extortion victim of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

Stephen Rakes, who was poisoned to death in July 2013, had claimed Whitey Bulger had forced him to sell his South Boston liquor store to serve as a gang headquarters. (Photo Credit: Chris Gobeille-WBZ-TV)

Prosecutors say Camuti killed 59-year-old Stephen Rakes in July 2013 when they were meeting in Waltham over a business deal. Authorities say Camuti gave Rakes an iced coffee laced with potassium cyanide and dumped his body in a wooded area.

The woods in Lincoln where Rakes' body was found in July 2013. (WBZ-TV)

Rakes had hoped to testify in Bulger's 2013 trial but wasn't called by prosecutors. Bulger was sentenced to two life terms in a racketeering case.

Authorities say Rakes' death was the result of a business dispute and was not tied to the Bulger case.