Warren T. Bamford, head of the Boston FBI, officially retired Friday after heading up the office since 2007. Assistant special agent in charge James C. Burrell has been named the acting special agent in charge.
Under Bamford’s reign, the office produced a number of high-profile cases including one that involved a corrupt state senator and another that targeted a street boss for the Colombo crime family.
“My FBI experience has been tremendous and being able to end my career in the Boston Office makes it even better,” he said Friday in a statement to ticklethewire.com. “I have tried to do the best job possible and have no regrets.”
Bamford will begin working for a private utility, National Grid, on June 28.
Under his command, the office aggressively pursued fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger, a violent mobster who was added to the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive list in 1999.
The office took creative steps to find Bulger and his female companion, including placing ads in dental and plastic surgery publications.
But in the end, like his predecessors, he was unable to find Bulger.
Bamford joined the bureau in 1986. Before arriving in Boston, he served as special agent in charge of the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Division in Los Angeles.
In 2009, he was named “Fed Of The Year” by ticklethewire.com. The previous year, the award went to Chicago’s U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.
