Federal prosecutors are seeking three years in prison for Stephen L. Snyder, the 77-year-old former top attorney convicted of attempted extortion.

Snyder is set to be sentenced April 2 after he was convicted by a federal jury of trying to extort the University of Maryland Medical System for $25 million in exchange for not exposing what he said was a dangerous organ transplant program.

In addition to 36 months incarceration, prosecutors want Snyder to pay a $100,000 fine. They wrote that he used his skills as a lawyer “to fulfill his desire for power and greed,” and “exploited the loss and suffering of his client.”

“His sentence should reflect the callous and brazen nature of his conduct,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew P. Phelps and Evelyn L. Cusson.

After representing himself at trial in November — including one episode which landed him in jail for a night after being found in contempt — Snyder is being represented at sentencing by attorney C. Justin Brown. Brown filed Snyder’s sentencing memorandum under seal, citing medical and other personal information.

“We are asking that Mr. Snyder, who is about to turn 78, not be sent to prison,” Brown said, declining to comment further.

In January, the Maryland Supreme Court temporarily suspended Snyder’s state law license after he failed to respond to a show-cause order asking why it shouldn’t be suspended.

The allegations against Snyder date back to 2018, when Snyder took on two clients who suffered severe complications following organ transplants, and eventually died. Snyder produced television commercials accusing UMMS of putting “profits over safety,” and said he would air them as part of a press blitz that would destroy the hospital.

Prosecutors say UMMS will be providing a victim impact statement that discusses specific instances of harm to the institution that have occurred as a result of Snyder’s threats.

Snyder told jurors that being aggressive had been his calling card throughout his lucrative career, but insisted that he had no criminal intent and was entrapped by the government. He repeatedly invoked his reputation and success earlier in this career, including his tagline: “Don’t sue them, Snyder them.” He complained that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had initially declined to prosecute the case, only to reverse course.

But Snyder, who said repeatedly during proceedings that he was in poor health, appeared to struggle to present his case and seemed ill-prepared. He ran afoul of U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, who held him in contempt at the conclusion of closing arguments and ordered him to spend a night in jail.

Prosecutors say that should be a consideration in his sentence.

“In addition to the substantive crimes that he committed, Snyder’s conduct during trial demonstrated disrespect and hostility towards the criminal justice process,” they wrote in the sentencing memorandum. “He treated the witnesses and the Court with disrespect. He attacked and mocked witnesses, and he ignored orders from the Court. The Court should impose a significant sentence that promotes respect for the law.”

Following the conclusion of the trial, Snyder’s stand-by counsel Gerald Ruter wrote that Snyder had not been competent to represent himself and detailed some of their troubling interactions.

Though a magistrate judge ordered that Snyder would have to continue to represent himself, Boardman has allowed Brown to step in for the sentencing phase.