Sheik's Lawyer Gets Nearly 2 1/2 Years

Former civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart exits Manhattan federal court following her sentencing, Monday, Oct. 16, 2006, in New York. The firebrand civil rights lawyer who has defended Black Panthers and anti-war radicals was sentenced Monday to nearly 2 years in prison, far less than the 30 years prosecutors wanted, for helping an imprisoned terrorist sheik communicate with his followers on the outside. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano) (Louis Lanzano - AP)

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

Yousry was sentenced to one year and eight months behind bars, while Sattar received 24 years in prison Monday.

Convicted of conspiracy to kill and kidnap people in a foreign country, Sattar could have gotten a life sentence. But the judge said no one was killed or injured, and he cited Sattar's lack of previous crimes and his restrictive prison conditions.

In a letter to the judge, Stewart proclaimed: "I am not a traitor." She said she did not intentionally enter into any conspiracy to help a terrorist organization.

"The end of my career truly is like a sword in my side," Stewart said at her sentencing. "Permit me to live out the rest of my life productively, lovingly, righteously."

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

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

"It's not just Lynne Stewart who is a victim; it's the Bill of Rights that's the victim," said Al Dorfman, 72, a retired lawyer.

About 200 more supporters jammed the halls outside the courtroom.

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Associated Press writer Pat Milton and AP Radio correspondent Warren Levinson contributed to this report.