Prosecutors began presenting closing arguments Monday morning in the racketeerin g trial of reputed gangster James Whitey Bulger,

a task likely to be lengthy. Assistant U.S. Atty. Fred Wyshak told jurors that Bulger was one of the most vici ous, violent and calculating criminals ever to walk the streets of Boston. During the nearly eight-week trial in U.S. District Court, jurors have heard som etimes gruesome testimony about 19 killings in which Bulger is accused of partic ipating, as well as numerous extortions, money-laundering schemes and the hoardi ng of guns. Bulger Trial: Glimpses of a Boston long gone Wyshak gets up to 2 hours and 45 minutes to make his arguments before the defens e gets to present its closing. Then Wyshak gets 30 more minutes for rebuttal. Bulger, 83, is accused of committing Hill Gang in the 1970s and '80s. He and was one of the FBI's most-wanted ngtime girlfriend in Santa Monica in a litany of crimes while leading the Winter fled Boston in 1994 ahead of an indictment fugitives until he was captured with his lo 2011.

Wyshak has pursued the case against Bulger for two decades. He will have to revi ew a mountain of evidence, including testimony from about 70 witnesses. He also will have to go over the charges: 32 counts in all. Wyshak will have to convince the jurors they can believe at least some of the te stimony of three key witnesses against Bulger, all gangsters-turned-informants w ho admitted committing heinous crimes, including murder, and agreed to testify a gainst him in plea deals with prosecutors. Defense lawyers J.W. Carney Jr. and Hank Brennan will split the defense closing argument. During the trial, they spent much of their time trying to rebut a clai m from numerous prosecution witnesses that Bulger was a longtime FBI informant w ho ratted on the rival Mafia and people in his own gang. The defense also focuse d on attempting to rebut allegations that Bulger strangled two young women. The jury is expected to begin deliberations Tuesday after receiving instructions on the law from the judge. Bulger's girlfriend, Catherine Greig, pleaded guilty last year to charges relate d to helping Bulger stay on the run for more than a decade and was sentenced to eight years in prison. She tried to have her sentence reduced, saying people who alleged their relatives were killed by Bulger shouldn't have been allowed to sp eak at her sentencing, but an appeals court panel found no basis to change the s entence.