Former crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger's longtime girlfriend is due in federal court in Boston on Monday, days after the aging gangster pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including 19 alleged murders.
Catherine Greig, 60, was arrested with the 81-year-old on June 22 in their Santa Monica, California, hideout. She has been charged with harboring Bulger as a fugitive and could face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Greig is expected to appear before Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal on Monday for a probable cause and detention hearing.
Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, has requested the defendant be released on bail to home confinement and electronic monitoring, according to court documents filed last week.
Reddington said prosecutors "will have a difficult time" proving that Greig harbored a fugitive. He noted that an affidavit submitted by the government in 1997 in support of a criminal complaint against Greig refers to her as a "traveling companion" of Bulger's.
"There is no evidence of harboring or providing aid to Mr. Bulger," Reddington wrote in a memo filed in U.S. District Court late Thursday.
"By all accounts, she is considered by family, neighbors and acquaintances as a kind, gentle person with a loving personality," Reddington wrote. "She has no criminal conduct and has the strong support of her family and close personal friends."
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz declined to comment on Reddington's memo, but prosecutors made it clear during Greig's initial court appearance that they will vehemently oppose her release on bail.
Greig, born and raised in South Boston, still owns a home in Quincy, Massachusetts, south of the city. Her twin sister Margaret McCusker will offer her home as collateral in the release as well, the filing said.
Reddington said Greig posed no danger to the community and was not a flight risk, as the government has suggested.
It was Greig, not Bulger, who took a star turn in the recent media campaign that quickly led to a crucial tip from the public and the arrest of the fugitive pair.
Authorities produced television spots that focused on Greig's physical appearance, habits and personality traits.
Greig loves dogs and was known to frequent beauty salons, according to the FBI. She had previously worked as a dental hygienist and had plastic surgery before fleeing with her criminal boyfriend, 20 years her senior.
But during initial court appearances in Los Angeles and Boston, Greig appeared frailer and older than Bulger, her close-cropped white hair a striking contrast to the blond curls in her wanted posters.