Greig's Lawyer Asks for 27 Months in Prison

In response to the government's recommendation that James "Whitey" Bulger's longtime companion, Catherine Greig, , her attorney asked for a sentence of 27 months.

"Vengence and pride may drive the government's sentence recommendation of ten years," Greig's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, wrote in an often-colorful 8-page memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in Boston today. But the government's recommendation far exceeds the Probation Department's sentencing guidelines of 27 to 33 months, he wrote.

Greig, 61, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday. She faces up to five years in prison for each of her offenses.

In pleading guilty in March to harboring a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud, Greig admitted to having a close personal relationship with Bulger, fleeing from the Boston area with him in 1995 and assisting him while he hid from authorities for 16 years. Greig admitted to using false identities to conceal herself during her time in hiding. Bulger and Greig were ultimately arrested in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 22, 2011.

In the memorandum, Reddington portrays a starkly different image of Greig than the one emerging from the government's memorandum filed Friday.

"The government seeks to paint Greig as some kind of sinister mastermind, orchestrating the escape and evasion of Bulger from law enforcement showing total and complete disdain for her obligations as a citizen," Reddington wrote.

Instead, he suggests, she is a harmless older woman whose actions were guided by her strong love for Bulger and whose role in eluding authorities was passive. 

"The evidence shows that Catherine Greig was in love with James Bulger ... she at no time believed him to be a murderer..." the memorandum reads, referring to Bulger, who faces trial on 19 counts of murder this fall, as "a champion of the oppressed, liked to be a 'Robin Hood like' person."

Reddington also argues that there is no evidence for the state's assertion that Greig knew of the cache of weapons and stashes of cash in their Santa Monica apartment. 

"Ms. Greig vehemently disputes the government's speculative narrative regarding the course of conduct they allege the defendant engaged in. The government suggests she was aware of weapons hidden in the wall as well as money and weapons hidden in the room occupied in the apartment by Mr. Bulger," he wrote. 

And her possession of false idenities were "as innocuous as can be" and only used to further the harboring. 

"It is not justice to use the law as a cudgel to exact the proverbial "pound of flesh" from a kind, gentle 60 year old woman who is at the mercy of this Court for a fair sentence," Reddington wrote.  

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