An American woman who spent years on the run with the notorious mobster James "Whitey" Bulger from Boston, Massachusetts, was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison by a federal judge Tuesday, according to local news reports.

The ruling was handed down against the woman, Catherine Greig, at a federal courtroom in Boston Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock said in the ruling that Greig had aided "someone accused of the most serious crimes imaginable" to evade capture by law enforcement, and "there has to be a price imposed to serve as general deterrence," the Boston Globe reported.

Bulger is a fearsome figure accused of 19 murders who once roamed Boston's underworld while at the same time being protected as an FBI informant. He fled capture and remained a fugitive for 16 years, until his arrest last year in the U.S. state of California, along with Greig.

Greig and Bulger were arrested last June at an apartment in Santa Monica, California, where they had been staying since 1996. Bulger, who will face a racketeering indictment alleging he had taken part in a host of murders, was placed on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He fled the Boston area just before he was about to be charged in an initial indictment in 1994.

Bulger will face a trial in the fall.

Greig pleaded guilty in March to three charges, including conspiracy to harbor a fugitive and the conspiracy to commit identity fraud. She faces a maximum of five years behind bars for each charge plus fines.

Prosecutors alleged that Greig, 61, was the "key actor" in a conspiracy that allowed Bulger to evade law enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Pirozzolo told the judge Tuesday that 10 years would be "wise and reasonable," considering the nature of the case.