Former mobster and accused murderer James "Whitey" Bulger appeared at a court hearing yesterday just hours after he was brought back to Boston following 16 years on the run.
Bulger and longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig appeared separately before three federal judges, where they were told their rights and heard the charges against them. Both requested that counsel be appointed. Arraignments have not been set.
Judge Marianne Bowler asked Bulger - who had $800,000 (€563,000) in cash on hand when he was arrested in his Santa Monica, California, apartment last Wednesday - if he could afford a lawyer.
"Well, I could if you gave me my money back," said Bulger, who spoke softly with a calm demeanour.
Prosecutors objected to the pair having public defenders represent them at taxpayer expense. For now, Boston attorney Peter Krupp is representing Bulger until a permanent counsel is selected.
Bulger (81), dressed in a white T-shirt, white cardigan and sneakers, was led into the courtroom in handcuffs after being driven to the federal courthouse in a convoy of black vehicles..
The courthouse, just blocks from his old neighbourhood where he once led the notorious Irish-American Winter Hill Gang, was mobbed by journalists, curious onlookers and the relatives of some of his alleged victims. Many in Bulger's old South Boston territory had thought him long dead.
Bulger, a onetime FBI informant, had been sought by authorities for 19 counts of murder committed in the 1970s and 1980s, many of them brutal killings, and charges of drug dealing, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy.
He fled Boston in late 1994 after a tip from a corrupt FBI agent that his arrest was imminent, and was joined by Greig a few months later.
A new FBI publicity campaign that focused on finding Greig (60) paid off with a crucial tip on Tuesday, and by Wednesday night the pair were in custody.
Reuters