Judge Lenient With Civil Rights Lawyer

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)

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

Her clients included Black Panthers, leaders of the 1960s student activist group Weather Underground, a former mob hit man and a man accused of trying to kill nine police officers.

Outside the courtroom, Stewart acknowledged her good fortune, saying 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."

About 150 Stewart supporters who could not get inside the crowded courtroom stood outside the courthouse, chanting "Free Lynne, Free Lynne." Another 200 supporters jammed the hallways outside the courtroom.

Stewart said she did not intentionally enter into any plot or conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization.

"I am not a traitor," she proclaimed in a letter to the sentencing judge.

Stewart was arrested six months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The indictment was brought by former Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2002.

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

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