Sentencing at hand for harborer of fugitive mobster
Source: Agencies |
June 13, 2012, Wednesday
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CATHERINE Greig, who spent 16 years on the run with former Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, will learn her sentence for helping to hide one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.
Bulger and Greig were captured nearly a year ago at a Santa Monica, California, apartment where they spent most of those years in hiding. Bulger, now 82, awaits trial this fall on charges he participated in 19 murders.
Greig's attorney says she fell in love with a "Robin Hood-like" figure, never believing that her outlaw boyfriend was a murderer.
Attorney Kevin Reddington has appealed for leniency for his 61-year-old client, asking a federal judge to give her 27 months in prison at today's hearing.
"Why people fall in love has been debated since before Shakespeare's sonnets," Reddington wrote. "Many times people fall in love and their family or loved ones do not approve or condone the relationship. The truth of the matter is that she was and remained in love with Mr Bulger."
Greig faces up to 15 years in prison, but probation officials recommended 27 to 33 months, according to the defense's sentencing memo. The government has asked for a 10-year sentence, following Greig's guilty plea in March to charges of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud.
Prosecutors have called Greig's conduct the most extreme case of harboring a criminal they've seen. They said the former dental hygienist and dog groomer got money from Bulger to pay their rent and other bills, did all of their shopping and helped him get medical and dental care while on the run.
Prosecutors said Greig also traveled through multiple states with him, taking on multiple fraudulent identities to help him stay on the run. They say the pair posed as married retirees from Chicago and had a stash of more than $800,000 in cash and 30 weapons in their Santa Monica apartment, most of them hidden in the walls.
Her attorney on Monday called his client a sweet and gentle woman who helped homeless animals, and whose feelings for Bulger swayed her actions. He also suggested that the government was trying to "rectify the bungling" of their investigation of Bulger, a longtime FBI informant, and redeem themselves from bad publicity in the case.
Bulger and Greig were captured nearly a year ago at a Santa Monica, California, apartment where they spent most of those years in hiding. Bulger, now 82, awaits trial this fall on charges he participated in 19 murders.
Greig's attorney says she fell in love with a "Robin Hood-like" figure, never believing that her outlaw boyfriend was a murderer.
Attorney Kevin Reddington has appealed for leniency for his 61-year-old client, asking a federal judge to give her 27 months in prison at today's hearing.
"Why people fall in love has been debated since before Shakespeare's sonnets," Reddington wrote. "Many times people fall in love and their family or loved ones do not approve or condone the relationship. The truth of the matter is that she was and remained in love with Mr Bulger."
Greig faces up to 15 years in prison, but probation officials recommended 27 to 33 months, according to the defense's sentencing memo. The government has asked for a 10-year sentence, following Greig's guilty plea in March to charges of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud.
Prosecutors have called Greig's conduct the most extreme case of harboring a criminal they've seen. They said the former dental hygienist and dog groomer got money from Bulger to pay their rent and other bills, did all of their shopping and helped him get medical and dental care while on the run.
Prosecutors said Greig also traveled through multiple states with him, taking on multiple fraudulent identities to help him stay on the run. They say the pair posed as married retirees from Chicago and had a stash of more than $800,000 in cash and 30 weapons in their Santa Monica apartment, most of them hidden in the walls.
Her attorney on Monday called his client a sweet and gentle woman who helped homeless animals, and whose feelings for Bulger swayed her actions. He also suggested that the government was trying to "rectify the bungling" of their investigation of Bulger, a longtime FBI informant, and redeem themselves from bad publicity in the case.
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