Lynne Stewart convicted of providing material support to terrorists
10/16/06New York, NY
Lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced Monday to 28 months in prison for helping her client, a blind sheik who plotted to blow up New York City landmarks, communicate with his followers.
Stewart, 67, could have faced up to 30 years in prison for her conviction on a federal charge of providing material support to terrorists.
Outside the federal courthouse in New York about 150 Stewart supporters chanted "Free Lynne, Free Lynne."
Stewart has been harshly criticized by those on the right who have likened her to a "mob lawyer," that is, a lawyer complicit in the criminal enterprises of her client. One critic called her "the Madame Defarge of the legal left."