Lynne Stewart

American defense attorney

Lynne Irene Stewart (October 8, 1939 – March 7, 2017) was an American defense attorney who was known for representing controversial, famous defendants.She herself was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists in 2005, and sentenced to 28 months in prison.

Her felony conviction led to her being automatically disbarred.She was convicted of helping pass messages from her client Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric convicted of planning terror attacks, to his followers in al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, an organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Secretary of State.

She was re-sentenced on July 15, 2010, to 10 years in prison in light of her perjury at trial.She served her sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas.

Stewart was released from prison on December 31, 2013, on a compassionate release order because of her terminal breast cancer diagnosis.