Boston mobster's girlfriend files notice of appeal

BOSTON (AP) - The day after the longtime girlfriend of mobster James "Whitey" Bulger was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping him while he was on the run, her lawyer filed a notice in court saying she may appeal.

The one-paragraph document filed in federal court Wednesday says Catherine Greig, 61, claims her right to appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Though the notice mentions an appeal of the conviction, Attorney Kevin Reddington said she is not planning to. The notice can be withdrawn if she decides not to appeal her sentence.

Greig pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy. She admitted she helped Bulger while he was a fugitive, lusing false identities, accompanying him to medical appointments and picking up his prescriptions.

Reddington said that Greig was in love with Bulger when she fled Boston with him in 1995 and that she did not believe he was capable of the murders he is accused of committing.

They were apprehended in June 2011 in Santa Monica, Calif. They posed as married retirees from Chicago and had a stash of more than $800,000 in cash and 30 weapons in their apartment when they were captured.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock sentenced Greig to eight years in prison, below the 10-year sentence recommended by prosecutors, but well above the 27-month sentence recommended by Reddington.

Bulger, the former leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang and an FBI informant, is awaiting trial for allegedly participating in 19 murders.

Under federal rules of appellate procedure, defendants must file a notice of appeal within 14 days after sentencing. If she didn't file the notice, she would be barred from ever considering an appeal, so the notice is a safeguard.

Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, said prosecutors would not comment. "It is her right to appeal," she said.

View the document here.

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