Businessman says gun was put between his legs and it was either pay Bulger or 'get killed'

BOSTON - A businessman is telling jurors that reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger once shoved a machine-gun between his legs and ordered him to pay him $400,000.

Michael Solimando described terrifying moments in 1982 when he said Bulger -- the head of the mostly Irish-American Winter Hill gang -- first held a handgun to his face, then pushed a machine-gun to his groin.

Solimando says he invested in a building project with a friend, John Callahan, who was killed that year. Solimando says he did not know Callahan was a Bulger associate.

Solimando says Bulger told him Callahan used the gang's money to invest, and even though Solimando said the investment wasn't $400,000, Bulger insisted on the money.

Solimando says he paid because "it was either that or get killed."

Bulger is accused of playing a role in 19 killings in the 1970s and '80s.