In the 12 months since notorious mobster James â??Whiteyâ? Bulger was captured, he has been revealed to have feet of clay. Stripped of his power, Bulger awaits some form of justice, be it death from old age (heâ??s 82), or adjudication in federal court, where he stands accused of 19 murders. Either way Bulger will be made to pay, though it has become increasingly apparent that the many people and institutions of government that made Whitey Bulger possible will not be held accountable. One of the most violent and pernicious criminal conspiracies in the history of American mobsterism is over, but for those who hoped that the prosecution of Bulger would be some form of final exposé on the Bulger era, his trial is shaping up to be a whitewash.
Having lived 16 years on the run, 12 of those in an apartment near the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., with $822,198 cash and an arsenal of weapons stashed in a wall, Bulger was finally pinched after a tipster contacted the FBI with information about his fugitive girlfriend, Catherine Greig. Bulger and Greig, age 61, were arrested on June 23, 2011, and returned to Boston, where Whitey had for nearly a quarter century maintained a criminal business that included extortion, loan sharking, narcotics, fraud, illegal gambling, and murder.
Earlier this month Greig received an eight-year prison sentence and $150,000 fine for aiding and abetting a federal fugitive. With time served and allowable reductions for good behavior, she is likely to serve 76 months. Bulgerâ??s trial is scheduled to begin on November 5.
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