A fraud conviction ended his battles for civil rights. 14 years later, Stephen Yagman is back

LOS ANGELES — It was an unusual plea for leniency.

The once-prominent civil rights lawyer Steve Yagman did not deserve prison, his numerous supporters told a federal court judge — even as they recited his manifest flaws: self-righteousness, arrogance and a messianic adherence to ideals others were too weak to live by.

“He alienated, possibly intentionally, all those that he thought were not making their way in life according to his beliefs,” wrote one backer, a former FBI agent who summed up the supplicant’s character as “abrasive, argumentative and obnoxious.”

Who was this lawyer whose prime virtue — a selfless dedication to the defenseless and downtrodden — could best be seen through a screen of negatives?

Yagman had tormented public officials for three decades with legal attacks on police abuse and government overreach.

Over a career that made headlines for landmark victories such as a six-figure judgment, later reversed, against LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, Yagman also became notorious for intemperance, most pointedly evidenced by his brutal characterization of a federal judge. In a letter to the publisher of the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, Yagman wrote that the judge was “ignorant, dishonest, ill-tempered, and a bully,” going on to add “buffoon” and “sub-standard human.”

His suspension over the remarks was later overruled, but Yagman’s swagger eventually met ruin.

He abruptly disappeared from the public stage after his 2007 conviction for tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering.

After serving 29 months in federal prison, he stayed largely out of sight for another 11 years as a paralegal and lecturer.

Yet to the astonishment of those who might have welcomed his absence, Yagman