Girlfriend gets 8 years for hiding 'Whitey' Bulger

The girlfriend of James "Whitey" Bulger was sentenced to eight years in federal prison Tuesday for identity fraud and helping the reputed mob boss avoid capture for 16 years.

Catherine Greig, who prosecutors said was Bulger's "partner" in avoiding capture, must also pay a $150,000 fine, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock ruled.

Greig, 61, declined to speak before her sentencing, but her lawyer said afterward that she has no regrets.

"She was in love with the guy and lived with him for 16 years," J.W. Carney said. "Of course she doesn't regret it."

Bulger and Greig were captured at their Santa Monica, California, apartment a year ago. He faces trial later this year, accused of committing 19 murders during a reign of terror in South Boston during the 1970s and 1980s.

Greig pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud. Federal prosecutors, calling it "the most extreme case" of harboring a fugitive, asked the judge to give her 10 years in prison.

"She not only hid his identity, but also hid the fact Bulger had filled their apartment with weapons, enabling Bulger to avoid capture by violence if necessary," prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.

Woodlock, before imposing the sentence in U.S. District Court in Boston, said Greig had to pay a price for her bad choices. He suggested she could show that she was making better choices by cooperating with prosecutors in the case against Bulger.

Her lawyer made it clear outside of the courthouse that she would not become a government witness because she feels "the love of her life" is innocent.

"She doesn't buy that, doesn't believe it, and absolutely stands by her man," Carney said.

Stephen Rakes, who says his South Boston liquor store was taken over by Bulger, was one of the victims who spoke in court before the sentencing. He said he thought Greig should have been given the maximum 15 years in prison.

 

 

"She has no heart," Rakes said after the sentencing. "She probably sleeps in an ice chest."

Bulger, who is being held without bail, was the head of a South Boston Irish gang before he fled an impending racketeering indictment in 1995. He evaded law enforcement for 16 years before he and Greig were arrested in June 2011 in Santa Monica.

The couple had, for several years, hidden in plain sight in the palm-tree-lined, oceanside city near Los Angeles in a three-story building named Princess Eugenia.