BOSTON — Jurors have reached a verdict in the racketeering trial of James “Whitey” Bulger, and their decision is expected to be announced soon.

The federal jury began deliberating Tuesday and deliberated over five days.

The 83-year-old Bulger is charged in a sweeping racketeering indictment with participating in 19 killings during the 1970s and ’80s while he led the Winter Hill Gang. He was one of the nation’s most wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994, and was finally captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

During the two-month trial, prosecution witnesses portrayed Bulger as a hands-on crime boss who killed some of the gang’s targets himself and orchestrated other killings.

Defense lawyers say three once-loyal Bulger cohorts got reduced prison terms in exchange for testifying against Bulger.