New York – A firebrand civil-rights lawyer who has defended Black Panthers and anti-war activists was sentenced Monday to nearly 2 1/2 years in prison – far less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted – for helping an imprisoned terrorist sheik communicate with his followers.
Lynne Stewart, 67, smiled, cried and hugged supporters after U.S. District Judge John Koeltl pronounced the sentence of 28 months.
The judge said Stewart was guilty of smuggling messages between her client and his followers that could have “potentially lethal consequences.” He called the crimes “extraordinarily severe criminal conduct.”
But in departing from federal guidelines that called for 30 years behind bars, he cited Stewart’s more than three decades of dedication to poor, disadvantaged and unpopular clients.
“Ms. Stewart performed a public service, not only to her clients, but to the nation,” Koeltl said.
The judge said Stewart could remain free while she appeals, a process that could take more than a year.
Stewart was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and her lawyer, Elizabeth Fink, had warned in a plea to the judge: “If you send her to prison, she’s going to die. It’s as simple as that.”
Outside court, Stewart said she thought the sentence was “a victory for doing good work all one’s life.” She added: “You get time off for good behavior usually at the end of your prison term. I got it at the beginning.”
Stewart has represented members of the militant 1960s black-rights group the Black Panther Party, leaders of the ’60s student activist group the Weather Underground, a former mob hit man and a man accused of trying to kill nine police officers.
Stewart was convicted in 2005 of providing material support to terrorists. She had released a statement issued by one of her clients, Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind sheik sentenced to life in prison for plotting to blow up five New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt’s president.
Prosecutors have called the case a major victory in the war on terrorism. They said Stewart and other defendants carried messages between the sheik and top members of an Egypt-based terrorist organization, helping spread Abdel-Rahman’s call to kill those who did not subscribe to his extremist interpretation of Islamic law.
Stewart was arrested six months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
