Civil Rights Lawyer Stewart Gets 28 Months in Prison

Civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced to two years and four months in prison on a terrorism charge yesterday for helping an Egyptian sheik communicate with his followers on the outside.

Stewart, 67, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, smiled, cried, and hugged supporters after U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl announced he was dramatically reducing the 30-year prison sentence called for by federal sentencing guidelines.

"If you send her to prison, she's going to die. It's as simple as that," defense lawyer Elizabeth Fink told the judge before the sentence was pronounced.

The judge said Stewart could remain free pending appeal, a process that could take more than a year.

Mr. Koeltl said she was guilty of smuggling messages between the sheik and his followers that could have "potentially lethal consequences." He called the crimes "extraordinarily severe criminal conduct."

But he cited more than three decades of dedication to poor, disadvantaged, and unpopular clients that had left her destitute even though she worked on more than 70 cases at once.

"Ms. Stewart performed a public service, not only to her clients but to the nation," Mr. Koeltl said.

Outside court, Stewart said she thought the sentence was "a victory for doing good work all one's life."

U.S.Attorney Michael Garcia said he had no immediate comment.

Stewart was convicted in 2005 of providing material support to terrorists.She had released a statement by Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind sheik sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted in plots to blow up five New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt's president.

"What she was doing was smuggling terrorism messages and smuggling out Abdel-Rahman's responses," an assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Dember said at yesterday's sentencing.

Earlier, about 150 Stewart supporters who could not get inside the capacity-filled courtroom stood outside the courthouse, chanting "Free Lynne, Free Lynne." Another 200 supporters jammed the hallways outside the courtroom.

Stewart was arrested six months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, along with Mohamed Yousry, an Arabic interpreter, and Ahmed Abdel Sattar, a U.S. postal worker.

The indictment against Stewart, Yousry, and Sattar was brought by former Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2002.

Mr. Koeltl sentenced Sattar to 24 years in prison yesterday. Convicted of conspiracy to kill and kidnap people in a foreign country, he could have been sentenced to a life term.