COEUR d'ALENE - Edgar J. Steele says he was targeted for federal charges and "railroaded" by the government for his advocacy of politically incorrect causes.

"I say things they don't want said to the American public," Steele said in a brief phone interview Wednesday from Latah County jail in Moscow, where he is being held until sentencing in August. "And I say things in a particularly persuasive manner."

He was convicted of a murder-for-hire plot to kill his longtime wife Cyndi Steele. At 65, the retired "attorney for the damned" from Sagle, said he could spend the rest of his life in prison for the plot and related charges.

While locked up, he said, "I'm going to be writing."

He has plans for two books so far, including one about his case. The other will delve into philosophy and religion. He also plans to pen numerous Internet essays.

He said he had been working on research for a book before he was arrested one year ago.

He had intended to title it: "Love and other four letter words: Invasion of Planet Earth by teenage mail-order Russian brides from cyber space."

During his trial this spring in federal court in Boise, prosecutors said he wanted to be with a young Ukrainian woman he had met online bad enough that he hired a hit man.

He said he began researching the "mail-order bride scam" after he was approached by a man from Chicago who reported getting scammed for $4,000.

Steele initially refused to look into the matter, but eventually saw a book in it.

"Who is the real victim? That's what I planned to answer," he said. He found that both the American men and Ukrainian women were victims, while those helping make the connections preyed on them both.

Audio recordings captured secretly by an FBI informant, his handyman turned hit man Larry Fairfax, 50, are fakes, he said.

He said the incriminating parts of the conversations, which were played during the trial, were manufactured and edited in.

Fairfax was sentenced last month for making a pipe bomb which was placed under Cyndi Steele's SUV, though it never detonated.

"I didn't have those conversations with that guy," Steele said.

The jury of 11 women and one man disagreed, finding him guilty on all charges. He's appealing.

He said charges were brought against him shortly after he had posted a message on his website, www.conspiracypenpal.com. He announced his intention to return to top form after a time of inactivity from his writing and speaking gigs due to health problems.

On April 25, 2010, he wrote: "I'm coming back soon ... and now I'm really pissed off ..."

He was arrested in June 2010.

He hadn't had a paying case as an attorney in 10 years, but was still a target of groups like the Anti-Defamation League, Southern Poverty Law Center, and "10 others, easily," he said.

Following the jury's verdict, prosecutors and FBI agents working on the case said they had never heard of Steele before Fairfax came forward to report what he had been hired to do.

Steele said he regrets not taking the witness stand in his own defense during trial.

He said his defense attorneys recommended he not take the stand, as did his wife.

"I couldn't trust any of my decisions," he said.

He said he was concerned about testifying because he was very angry and didn't know how he would respond under cross examination by a female prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan.

He said he wasn't particularly worried about allowing jurors to hear his voice, giving them something to compare with the audio recordings.

His primary concern was his expectation that with him on the stand prosecutors would play clips, over and over again, of the audio recordings.

"They could keep me on the stand for days doing that," he said.