Lynne Stewart arrives at Federal Court to turn herself in to authorities. (Photo/ Josh Williams)By Josh Williams
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A federal appeals court in Manhattan on Tuesday upheld the conviction of Lynne Stewart, a former lawyer who was found guilty in 2005 of aiding terrorists by passing information from her jailed client to his followers in Egypt.
The three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit also ordered the federal trial judge to revoke Stewart's bond and determine whether she should face more prison time than her original sentence of 28 months.
Stewart, 70, held a press conference at the courthouse in Foley Square on Tuesday and claimed she was innocent. She was not immediately taken into custody.
“I will go on fighting, this is a case that is bigger then me personally," Stewart said. "I am no criminal and I will fight it on the grounds for all lawyers.”
In its decision, the panel rejected Stewart’s claim that she was acting only as a “zealous advocate” for her client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, when she passed messages for him. Rahman is serving a life sentence for plotting to blow up Manhattan landmarks.
Later on Tuesday, the federal trial judge, John Koeltl, issued an order saying Stewart should prepare to surrender, but it was not clear when she would have to do so, the New York Times reported.
At the press conference, Stewart noted the timing of the panel's decision, coming on the heels of the White House's decision to try 9/11 terror suspects held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, here in Manhattan. She said what was happening to her was done to send a message to the attorneys for those suspects that they had better "do it the government's way."
The panel also wrote it believed Stewart lied under oath and should face additional time, adding that 28 months was "breathtakingly low," the Times reported.
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