Federal prosecutors ask for 10-year sentence for Catherine Greig, girlfriend of James ‘Whitey’ Bulger

By Milton J. Valencia and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Federal prosecutors have recommended that Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of James “Whitey” Bulger, serve 10 years in federal prison for helping the notorious gangster remain a fugitive for 16 years.

The prosecutors have also asked that Greig, 61, pay a $150,000 fine and serve three years of supervised release.

She is slated to be sentenced Tuesday in US District Court in Boston.

“This is no garden variety harboring case,” First Assistant US Attorney Jack W. Pirozzolo said in court documents filed Friday. “It is the most extreme case of harboring this district has seen For over 16 years, Greig conspired to, and did, protect Bulger – alleged to be one of the most dangerous and violent criminals in the history of this district – from being discovered by law enforcement.”

Greig has been held without bail since she and Bulger were arrested on June 22, 2011, outside their Santa Monica, Calif., apartment.

She pleaded guilty in March to harboring Bulger, conspiracy to commit identity fraud, and identity fraud. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge.

During the time Bulger and Greig spent in Santa Monica -- from at least 1996 to the time of their arrests -- Greig “handled money for Bulger, dealt with his medical providers, lied on multiple occasions about her own identity when she herself was seeking medical care, and was the key actor in the conspiracy to protect Bulger from being discovered,” the prosecutor said in a filing recommending the sentence.

Among the revelations in the filing: Bulger told law enforcement authorities that he and Greig had both been aware of the public service announcements that the FBI had released in June 2011 that had focused on Greig.

Bulger, with what turned out to be prescience, told Greig, “This is it,” according to the filing.

The filing also revealed that Bulger, despite his reputation as a vicious criminal, had a fear of shots and once referred to himself as a “dental chicken.”

The prosecutor disclosed those tidbits in a discussion of Greig’s “signicant role” in helping Bulger to obtain medical and dental care.

The prosecutor said Greig “actively helped Bulger through various medical procedures.”

“One doctor reported that Bulger was a considered a high fear, or high anxiety patient. The medical and dental records also show that Bulger had a fear of shots — he described himself in one written form as a ‘dental chicken, from Chicago,’” the filing said.

Greig was present during procedures to calm him down, the prosecutor said. But that wasn’t simply compassion on her part. She was there so Bulger, who was “often abusive toward medical staff” wouldn’t “lash out in a way that might reveal his or her true identity.”

The prosecutor said Greig’s was “as extreme a case of harboring ... as may exist in any domestic case.”

He also said Greig had shown no remorse for her actions.

“Although the Defendant has pled guilty here, she still has shown no remorse for her actions,” the filing said. “While she had been forced, as a result of her arrest, to confront the consequences of her crimes, she has shown no respect for the laws she has violated. Her loyalty to Bulger appears paramount, and overrides any respect she has for the law.”