Judge extends sentence of attorney who defended terrorist

Brushing aside a tearful plea for mercy, a federal judge sentenced a former attorney to 10 years in prison Thursday for helping an incarcerated terrorist communicate with his radical Muslim followers, adding nearly eight years to the original sentence and drawing cries of dismay from her supporters, who called the case an example of post-Sept. 11 hysteria.

The disbarred attorney, 70-year-old Lynne Stewart, occasionally wiped away tears as U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl essentially admitted that the 28-month sentence he had imposed earlier had been too lenient.

An appellate court in November ordered Koeltl to reconsider the original sentence, which Koeltl had said was based in part on Stewart’s age, fragile health and her decades of service as a teacher at inner-city schools and then as a lawyer representing mainly poor and unpopular clients. Her most notorious client was Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind Egyptian cleric convicted in 1995 of plotting to bomb New York City landmarks, including the United Nations building.

Stewart was convicted of providing material support to a terrorist organization and perjury, based on meetings she and members of her legal team had in prison in 2000 and 2001 with Abdel Rahman, who is serving a life sentence. Prosecutors said she used those meetings to facilitate communications between Abdel Rahman and followers of his radical Egyptian-based Islamic Group, then lied to cover her crimes.

The 10-year term — significantly less than the maximum 30-year sentence allowed and the 15 years sought by prosecutors — marks an abrupt change of fortunes for Stewart, who after her first sentencing had declared triumphantly that she could handle 28 months behind bars “standing on my head.”

She was convicted in 2005 but had been free on bail, receiving medical treatment, until November when the sentence review was ordered.

In a statement to Koeltl before he announced the new sentence, Stewart said that prison was “worse than I could have imagined,” and she pleaded with him not to extend her term.

“Daily, I confront the prospect of my death,” Stewart said, alluding to her ongoing treatment for breast cancer and other health issues.

In his argument for more prison time, assistant U.S. Atty. Andrew Dember said the short, apple-cheeked woman with the gray pageboy was a liar and “just frankly … another criminal.”

“She wants to make herself out to be the victim,” said Dember, who accused Stewart of betraying the government’s trust and using her power as an attorney to help spread potentially lethal messages on behalf of Abdel Rahman’s group. The group claimed responsibility for the 1997 massacre of 58 tourists in Luxor, Egypt, among other attacks.

Koeltl said he sympathized with Stewart in her battle with breast cancer. But he said she had shown a lack of remorse for her “profoundly wrongful” actions.

“One hundred twenty months is sufficient,” he said as her supporters in the courtroom gasped in disbelief.

Before the sentencing, about 100 of Stewart’s supporters had gathered outside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, chanting, “Free Lynne Stewart!”

“Everyone has the right to a defense,” said one protester, Tibby Brooks, arguing that the government had taken “extraordinary measures” against Stewart in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks because it wanted to punish her for defending the Egyptian cleric.

Stewart has admitted violating an agreement not to allow Abdel Rahman to communicate with the outside world but denied doing so to further his political aims. Rather, Stewart said she was touched by the sheik’s pitiful condition after years in isolation. Abdel Rahman, blind since childhood, is 72 and remains in prison.

In a letter to Koeltl after her conviction, Stewart also accused the government of taking “unfair advantage” of the post-Sept. 11 climate by prosecuting her for acts that “might have been legitimately tolerated” before the 2001 attacks.

tina.susman@latimes.com