Bulger's Girlfriend Changes Plea to Guilty BOSTON - Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of James (Whitey) Bulger, changed her plea to guilty on Wednesday, softly admitting in court that she fled with Mr. Bulger in 1995 and helped the legendary crime boss hide out, avoiding trial for multiple murders, for 16 years. "That's what happened," Ms. Greig murmured to Judge Douglas P. Woodlock of United States District Court after prosecutors laid out the details of what she confessed to in the plea agreement, down to using an alias to buy contact lenses at a Walmart in Louisiana in 1996 while on the road with Mr. Bulger. Afterward, United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz insisted that the plea agreement was not "a sweetheart deal" and that the government could still compel Ms. Greig to testify in Mr. Bulger's much-higher-stakes case. Now 82, he is scheduled to stand trial in November in a sweeping federal racketeering case charging him with 19 murders. Under her deal, Ms. Greig, 60, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, which she already faced, and two new counts: identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud. She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and will be sentenced on June 12. Relatives of some of those believed to be Mr. Bulger's victims said this week that prosecutors had warned them privately to expect a sentence as short as 32 months for Ms. Greig. She had no prior criminal record and has not been linked to Mr. Bulger's violent crimes. Steven Davis, whose sister Mr. Bulger has been charged with strangling in 1981, told Judge Woodlock on Wednesday that Ms. Greig deserved no lenience. "She's a monster," Mr. Davis said in the crowded courtroom as Ms. Greig stared straight ahead. We could have resolved this 16 years ago. She kept him in hiding all that time. Ms. Greig, a former dental hygienist, was calm through most of the proceeding. She started crying, though, when Judge Woodlock asked whether she had ever received mental health counseling. "At one time," she said, faltering through tears. It was after a suicide in my family. Afterward, Patricia Donahue, whose husband, Michael, was allegedly shot and killed by Mr. Bulger in 1982, said, "Where was she when I was crying?" In a statement admitting to her crimes, Ms. Greig said she posed as Mr. Bulger's wife and used a number of aliases - and false identification - while seeing doctors, buying prescription drugs and paying rent on their apartment in Santa Monica, Calif. Judge Woodlock reminded Ms. Greig that the government could compel her to testify, presumably in Mr. Bulger's case, and that she could face civil or criminal contempt charges if she refused, possibly adding to her prison time. Ms. Ortiz refused to say whether the government planned to seek her testimony. Asked why it would not have been better to put Ms. Greig on trial, she said: "We can focus on an ongoing investigation now; we can focus on the trial of Mr. Bulger. The taxpayers don't want to see a trial that's not necessary. The government could seek information from Ms. Greig about the years she and Mr. Bulger were in hiding, like whether he had any secret contact with friends or relatives in Boston, or even the F.B.I. But many who have followed the Bulger saga over the years believe that Ms. Greig will stay loyal to him and refuse to say a word. Some say the government has an interest in keeping her off the witness stand because she might say something that embarrasses it. "There's way too much uncertainty," said David Frank, the managing editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.