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Lynne Stewart gets 28 months in prison

Monday, October 16, 2006

(New York - WABC, October 16, 2006) (WABC) -- A judge said Monday he would sentence civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart to 28 months in prison on a terrorism charge for helping an Egyptian sheik communicate with his followers on the outside.

The New York City Civil Right lawyer who faced 30 years to life in prison, smiled as the judge read her sentence.

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

Scott Greenfield, a former colleague of Stewart's, said: "Judge Koeltl showed extraordinary courage, given the current political atmosphere, in performing the highest and finest function one can ask our judiciary: Justice. ... With this sentence, Lynne Stewart will be punished for her wrong-doing, but with proportionality."

"This is one of those rare days that I'm proud to be a lawyer," Greenfield added.

Earlier Monday, Stewart marched to the steps of court, flanked by hundreds of supporters, chanting, "Lynn Stewart must go free. No police state." She asked them to send positive thoughts to U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl.

"Send those messages by brain wave right up to Judge Koeltl. Get him to understand what's at stake here. Give him the strength to do the right thing," Stewart said.

Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, effectively sending her to prison for the rest of her life.

In a letter to the judge, Stewart acknowledged that she zealously tried to save a blind Egyptian sheik from life in prison for plotting to blow up city landmarks. But she argued that the government's characterization of her was wrong and took unfair advantage of the "hysteria that followed 9/11 and that was re-lived during the trial."

Stewart was convicted in February 2005 of providing material support to terrorists. She had released a statement by Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who she represented at his 1995 trial and who was sentenced to life in prison for plots to blow up five city landmarks and assassinate Egypt's president.

In court papers, prosecutors told that Stewart's "egregious, flagrant abuse of her profession, abuse that amounted to material support to a terrorist group, deserves to be severely punished."

Stewart, whose sentencing was delayed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and underwent treatment, asked the judge for mercy.

Stewart's former paralegal, Ahmed Abdel Sattar, was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Sattar was convicted of plotting to kill people in a foreign country for writing a paper urging the murder of Jews.

Also awaiting sentencing is Stewart's translator, Mohammed Yousry. He was convicted of material support for terrorism.

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